Sabarimala gold theft: SIT arrests former TDB president A Padmakumar

In a major setback to the LDF government and the CPM, the special investigation team (SIT) probing the gold heist at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar on Thursday.

The arrest was recorded in Thiruvananthapuram at around 3 pm. Padmakumar, a senior CPM leader and former MLA, was grilled for four hours by the investigation team led by SP Sasidharan at a secret location here before his arrest.

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Sources said that Padmakumar was arrested in the case related to gold missing from Dwarapalaka idols and the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames after he was arraigned as an accused. He was the TDB president in 2019 when the board examined a proposal to hand over the gold-clad copper plates of the Dwarapalaka idols and the Sreekovil doorframes to prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty for electroplating.

Padmakumar is the eighth accused in the case. Although Padmakumar had maintained that he was not the TDB president when the gold-clad plates were actually handed over to the main accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, the probe team is of the view that the proposal was processed during his tenure.

The SIT has reportedly received indications of a financial transaction between Unnikrishna Potti and Padmakumar. Other accused previously arrested in the case have reportedly provided statements against Padmakumar. This includes allegations that key instructions for the alleged gold theft were issued on his advice.

Meanwhile, the Vigilance Court in Kollam on Thursday sent former TDB president N Vasu, who was arrested in the case on November 11, to SIT custody till 4 pm. The SIT had sought a day’s custody for further interrogation. BJP workers staged a protest outside the court, shouting slogans and attempting to block the vehicle transporting Vasu to the Crime Branch office.

So far, Unnikrishnan Potti, Murari Babu (former Devaswom Board administrative officer), D. Sudheesh Kumar (Former Executive Officer), N Vasu (former Devaswom commissioner and TDB president), and A Padmakumar (former Devaswom Board president) have been arrested by the SIT in connection with the case.

The arrests of Padmakumar and N Vasu are major developments in the high-profile case involving the alleged theft of gold used for plating the temple’s sanctum sanctorum doors (sreekovil) and the ‘dwarapalaka’ idols at Sabarimala temple in 2019. These two arrests have significant political implications in Kerala. Padmakumar’s and Vasu’s connection to the ruling CPM has put the Left party in a difficult position.

The arrests of Padmakumar and Vasu have come as a severe setback to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other CPM leaders who claimed that the TDB under the. CPM leaders have no role in the Sabarimala temple gold looting. It is a matter of great concern for the CPM that the arrests of Padmakumar and Vasu took place as the state is going for local body polls in the next month and later assembly polls in April-May 2026.

The Sabarimala gold theft came to light on September 10 when the Special Commissioner of Sabarimala reported to the Kerala High Court that gold cladding from the dwarapalakas and peedams that are fixed on either side of the sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) was removed for renovation without intimating him in advance. The Special Commissioner informed the court that the gold cladding was detached on September 7 to be sent to a Chennai-based firm for repair.

The High Court then initiated suo motu proceedings after finding discrepancies in the weight of items handed over after a similar renovation in 2019. The court found that the items returned after renovation weighed only 38.258 kg.