No need for any concern: Kerala CM on SIT probe over Sabarimala gold theft row

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], October 13 (ANI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday urged people to not speculate on and unnecessarily hurry regarding the Sabarimala gold theft probe, assuring that the investigation, progressing under the supervision of the High Court, will be done properly and that appropriate decisions will be taken after the report is submitted.
"Let the Special Investigation Team continue its work. The investigation is progressing under the supervision of the High Court. There is absolutely no need for any concern. The probe will be conducted properly, and further decisions will be taken once the investigation is completed. Why rush to pass judgments before the investigation is complete? Let the investigation proceed, and once the related report comes in, we can discuss the matter further", CM Vijayan told mediapersons here.
The CM's comments were made amid the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter of the Sabarimala gold going missing from the panels of Dwarkapala idols. The Chief Minister stated that it would not be appropriate for him to make any statements on the investigation, which could affect it.
"It is not for the government to make any assessments at this time. You must understand that an investigation is underway, and it would not be appropriate for me to make any comments that might affect it... As I said earlier, once the probe is over, we will see who all have to face consequences, who ends up behind bars, and who doesn't. Why this unnecessary hurry?", he said.
Earlier today, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) from Kerala arrived in Chennai to continue its probe into alleged irregularities in the gold-plating restoration of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple, focusing on Chennai-based firm Smart Creations.
According to sources, the SIT team from Kerala questioned the company's CEO, Pangej Bandari, at the firm's head office in Ambattur in connection with the missing gold reportedly linked to the temple's restoration work.
Bandari and other key officials of the firm were queried on the reported shortfall of approximately 4.54 kg of gold linked to the 2019 electroplating work on the idols' copper coverings, sources said
The missing gold has sparked a political row in Kerala, where the BJP is accusing the state government of corruption.
In 2019, during repairs, Devaswom records listed the removed panels as copper sheets. When the replated panels were returned, records showed a reduction of 4.41 kg. Unnikrishnan Potty testified that the sheets given to him were copper-based with residual gold, which had been later replated at a Chennai firm.
Meanwhile, the Travancore Devaswom Vigilance, in a detailed report submitted to the Kerala High Court, has exposed a web of serious procedural violations, unauthorised interventions, and suspicious financial dealings surrounding the gold plating of the Dwarapalaka idols and copper panels at the Sabarimala Sreekovil temple.
According to the report, Unnikrishnan Potti, who has no stable income or declared business background, acted as an intermediary in several renovation and offering-related works at Sabarimala, despite not being the actual sponsor for many of them.
The controversy pertains to alleged irregularities in the gold plating work at the Sabarimala temple, which involved 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper donated by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998 for cladding the sanctum sanctorum and wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala. (ANI)