The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the misappropriation of gold from the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala has unearthed a “larger conspiracy” involving an alleged plan to dismantle and steal gold-cladded plates from the sanctum sanctorum, the Kerala High Court was told on Tuesday.
Opposing the bail pleas of former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar and Ballari-based jeweller Roddam Pandurangaiah Naga Govardhan, the SIT submitted that the case was not limited to isolated acts of theft, but was part of an “organised crime” carried out by a group of individuals with deep administrative access and criminal intent.
According to the SIT, its probe revealed “a series of serious official misconduct and administrative lapses on the part of the Devaswom officials right from the initial correspondence till the handing over of the door frame plates, connected plates and Dwarapalaka plates and pillar plates to Unnikrishnan Potty without proper authorisation.”
Potty, a Bengaluru-based businessman, is the prime accused in both the FIRs related to the loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the gold-plated copper plates on door frames within the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum).
The SIT named Govardhan, Pankaj Bhandari (CEO of Chennai-based Smart Creations, the firm that carried out the electroplating), Potty and others as co-conspirators in a plan to misappropriate gold from various temple artefacts.
“It is found during investigation that all these criminal activities were part of a large conspiracy and an organised crime committed by the accused persons. They had a larger plan to dismantle other gold-cladded items on the Sabarimala Sreekovil and to extract the gold on them for misappropriation,” the SIT stated in court.
The SIT further disclosed that call detail records (CDRs) of Govardhan, Bhandari and Potty indicated a secret meeting in Bengaluru in October 2025 — around the time the case was being considered by the High Court. The meeting, investigators claim, was held to discuss how to cover up their alleged involvement in the 2019 misappropriation.
Bhandari and Govardhan were arrested by the SIT on December 19 last year. In total, 10 individuals have been arrested in connection with the case so far.
Opposing Padmakumar’s bail plea, the SIT accused him of deliberately committing “grave official misconduct” by falsifying official records. The former TDB president allegedly enabled the misappropriation of temple gold by “misrepresenting the gold cladded plates as mere copper plates,” resulting in severe financial loss to the Board and unlawful gain to the accused parties.
The High Court, while hearing the bail petitions, adjourned the matter to January 8. On Monday, it had also granted the SIT an additional six weeks to complete the investigation.
