Former Devaswom Board officer D. Sudheesh Kumar arrested in Sabarimala Gold theft case

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], November 1 (ANI): The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested former Devaswom Board Executive Officer D. Sudheesh Kumar on Saturday in connection with the Sabarimala gold theft case.
According to officials, Sudheesh Kumar was brought to the Crime Branch office at Eanchakkal in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday and questioned for several hours before his arrest was officially recorded today. His arrest marks the third in the case, which involves the alleged theft of gold-plated panels from the Sabarimala temple's Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) panels.
Earlier, the SIT, appointed by the Kerala High Court, questioned Pankaj Bhandari, CEO of Smart Creation in Chennai, over the alleged disappearance of gold linked to the temple's restoration work. The company had undertaken the electroplating of gold-clad copper coverings for the Dwarapalaka idols at the Sabarimala Ayyappan Temple.
Meanwhile, the SIT brought the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, to Chennai after conducting a raid at his residence in Bengaluru. On Friday, he was taken to Bengaluru for evidence collection and has been remanded to police custody until October 30. The SIT is probing his involvement in the 2019 theft of the gold-plated panels.
On Thursday, the Ranni Court remanded former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) Executive Officer Murari Babu to 14 days' custody in connection with the case. Babu, currently under suspension, was taken into custody from his residence in Perunna late Wednesday night by the SIT and produced before the court after questioning at the Crime Branch office in Thiruvananthapuram, where his arrest was formally recorded.
According to the SIT remand report, Murari Babu played a key role in falsifying documents that claimed the gold-plated panels from the Sabarimala temple were made of copper. He is the second accused in the 2019 theft case, while Potti is the first accused. The SIT suspects that Babu, who had served in senior positions within the Devaswom Board for several years, colluded with Potti by submitting a false report during the 2019 restoration process.
The case gained renewed attention after Unnikrishnan Potti, ahead of the TDB-sponsored Global Ayyappa Sanghamam in September, claimed that four gold-plated panels he had donated in 2019 were missing. The TDB Vigilance later recovered the missing panels from Potti's sister's residence in Thiruvananthapuram, prompting the Kerala High Court to order a detailed SIT probe into all TDB transactions involving him.
Earlier, TDB president P.S. Prasanth suspended Assistant Engineer K. Sunil Kumar for his alleged involvement in the Sabarimala gold theft case. Kumar has also been named as an accused. (ANI)