Sabarimala gold theft case : Former TDB member Vijayakumar arrested

Sabarimala: In a major breakthrough, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested former TDB member N Vijayakumar in connection with the Sabarimala gold theft case, news agency PTI reported, citing police.

According to police sources, Vijayakumar was a member of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) during the tenure of former president A Padmakumar, who has already been arrested in the case related to the loss of gold from the door-frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum).

During his tenure on the board, approval was granted in 2019 to hand over gold plates to the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, for electroplating purposes.

Vijayakumar was summoned to the SIT office in Thiruvananthapuram, where he was interrogated. Following the questioning, his arrest was formally recorded, sources said. He is scheduled to be produced before the Kollam Vigilance Court later.

Vijayakumar is the 10th accused in the case

With this development, Vijayakumar has become the 10th accused arrested by the SIT in connection with the investigation into the loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the Sreekovil door-frames at the Sabarimala temple.

Earlier, the Kerala High Court, while hearing a petition related to the Sabarimala gold loss case, had criticised the SIT for failing to investigate the role of former Travancore Devaswom Board members K P Shankar das and Vijayakumar.

The SIT was constituted on the directions of the High Court, which earlier this month granted the probe team an additional six months to complete the investigation.

So far, the SIT has arrested seven people, including two former chairmen of the TDB and CPM leaders A Padmakumar and N Vasu. Unnikrishnan Potty is the main accused in this case, and Murari Babu, a then-serving officer of the board, has also been arrested.

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In 2019, when the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, proposed electroplating the Dwarapalaka idols to the TDB, Babu forwarded the proposal to the board, reportedly stating that the gold-clad plates were made of copper. He is said to have forwarded a similar proposal from Potty again in 2025.

The Vigilance also pointed out serious lapses by Babu and seven other TDB officials in handing over the gold-clad plates to Potty.