SIT arrests former Sabarimala officer Sudheesh Kumar in missing gold case.
He allegedly recorded gold-plated idols as copper in 2019 temple records.
Two others, including Unnikrishnan Potty, were earlier arrested in the probe.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged disappearance of gold from the Sabarimala temple has arrested former executive officer Sudheesh Kumar, officials said on Saturday.
Kumar, who served at the hill shrine in 2019, was taken into custody after being questioned at the Crime Branch office in Thiruvananthapuram, according to PTI. He has been accused of concealing that the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols were gold-plated, instead recording them as copper sheets in official temple documents.
Sources told PTI that Kumar had long been associated with the Sabarimala administration since the 1990s and was aware that the sanctum sanctorum, including the Dwarapalaka idols, had been gold-clad during 1998–99. However, investigators allege that when the Dwarapalaka plates were handed over to the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, for gold plating in 2019, Kumar documented them as copper plates. This alleged misrepresentation enabled the removal of the existing gold plating, an officer said.
Kumar is the third person to be arrested in the case, following the earlier arrests of Potty and former administrative officer B. Murari Babu. Officials added that Kumar will be produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court later.
Meanwhile, the SIT has also questioned Vasudevan, described as a close aide of Potty. Investigators said Vasudevan had kept in his possession the additional gold-clad pedestal of the Dwarapalaka idols, which was later seized from the residence of one of Potty’s relatives in Thiruvananthapuram last month.
The SIT is currently probing two related cases, the alleged loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols and from the gold-plated door frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum), both of which had been handed over to Potty for electroplating in 2019, PTI reported.
(With inputs from PTI)
