TDB suspends engineer over Sabarimala gold theft

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], October 15 (ANI): Travancore Devaswam Board (TDB) president PS Prasanth has suspended assistant engineer K Sunil Kumar for his alleged involvement in the Sabarimala gold theft case.
Kumar has been named as an accused in the case.
Prasanth said that retired officers involved in the gold-plating controversy will receive a show-cause notice, with a 10-day time frame to respond.
"In today's Board meeting, it was decided to suspend Assistant Engineer K Sunil Kumar, who is under investigation. Retired officers involved will receive show-cause notices and must respond within 10 days. Further action will be taken as per the rules after receiving their explanations," Prasanth told reporters.
The decision was made following a board meeting held on Tuesday.
Referring to the 2019 incident, Prasanth said that the Kerala government, along with the Devaswom Board, has a clear stance that lost property must be recovered and culprits must be punished. He further stated that "protest against the Devaswom Board and attacks on employees" was regrettable since the Board was moving while upholding all rituals and traditions.
"The 2019 incident was indeed unfortunate. Both the government and the Devaswom Board have a clear stance; the lost property must be recovered, and the culprits must be punished. We have a capable and credible investigation team in place, and I have full confidence in the probe. The protests against the Devaswom Board and the attacks on employees are deeply regrettable. The Board is moving forward while upholding all rituals and traditions," the TDB president said.
Urging the opposition to wait for the investigation to conclude, Prasanth said, "We urge everyone to show patience for six weeks and allow the investigation agency to do its job. Even the Opposition Leader should cooperate with the probe. If there is no faith in an investigation monitored by the High Court, that must be stated clearly. If they demand a CBI probe, let the Opposition Leader say so openly; he should show statesmanship. It is painful to see what is happening now, especially when the Devaswom Board has undergone major reforms."
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday urged people not to 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.
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 regarding the investigation, as this could potentially affect it.
A SIT from Kerala arrived in Chennai earlier 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)