A division bench comprising Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar said the SIT must ensure that the actual perpetrators are brought to light and the probe is carried out discreetly, with integrity.
Photo: IANS
The Kerala High Court on Monday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a police officer in the rank of Additional Director General of Police ( ADGP) to probe into the alleged disappearance of gold at the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols in Sabarimala.
A division bench comprising Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar said the SIT must ensure that the actual perpetrators are brought to light and the probe is carried out discreetly, with integrity.
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Expressing shock over the fraud in the gold-plating works on the Dwarapalaka idols at the Sabarimala temple, the court said the alleged conspiracy is not limited to priest-turned-businessman Unnikrishnan Potti, who sponsored the gold plating on the idols, but also involves Devaswom officers who handled the gold in violation of legal procedures.
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Hearing the case, the court noted that the weight of the gold had reduced by around 4 kilograms after the idols were handed over to Unnikrishnan Potti in 2019.
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