The alleged irregularities in the golden emergence of copper plaques forming part of the Dwarapalak idols in Sabarimale have now wrapped in a full scandal, and the alertness was preparing for the penetration of Unnikrishnan Potti about his suspicious role in his several stupid shop by preparing for his hill.
The official sources confirmed that Mr. Potti will face a detailed interrogation on Saturday about his involvement in the episode. The team led by the Devaswom Vigilance SP Sunil Kumar has already discovered details of a few dubious transactions that allegedly associated with him.
“So far, the investigation suggests that Potti has received a large amount of money since the devotees of Ayyapp in Karnataka under the pretext of the golden financing for Sanctum Sanctorum and sponsored the offer of free food.
Investigators suspect that Mr. Potti took the golden copper album to Bengalur in 2019 as part of this fundraising unit. The accusation also emerged earlier and accused him of misuse of his “claimed” close ties with Sabarimala to raise money from the rich devotees of AyyApp in the carnation.
Meanwhile, fresh news also suggests that Mr. Potti tried to remove plaques from the sanctuary of the hill for gold, which is now the effort now under the Vigilance scanner. The alleged involvement of Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) is also examined.
The controversy deepened after the High Court ordered the probe of vigilance and noted the inconsistency in the weight of the plaques. When they were removed in 2019 for fresh gold, they weighed 42.8 kg. However, when they were introduced by a company authorized in 2025, the weight dropped to 38.258 kg.
Meanwhile, President TDB PS Prasanth recognized the garbage of officials in the presentation of accurate gold data in Sabarimale in court.
Mr. Prashanth said that the Board had maintained accurate records of the golden possessions of the temples under TDB. Currently, gold has been placed on 18 cabinets, with 467 kg handed over to the Indian reserve bank as part of the Gold Monitoring system.
He stressed that all of this was properly documented, but he admitted that officials had committed a mistake when they submitted the relevant records before the High Court.
Published – October 2, 2025 17:50
