Kerala SIT probes Sabarimala temple gold case; thirteen arrested

What the Record Shows

A Special Investigation Team of the Kerala Police, constituted on the directions of the Kerala High Court, is investigating the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, which is administered by the Travancore Devaswom Board, a statutory body. The SIT has registered two first information reports, Crime No. 3700/2025 and Crime No. 3701/2025 of the Crime Branch, Thiruvananthapuram, naming ten persons and invoking Sections 120B, 403, 406, 409, 466 and 467 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, together with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.

According to Prasar Bharati's news service, the SIT took the former Sabarimala Administrative Officer, B. Murari Babu, into custody on 23 October 2025, the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, having already been arrested. Reporting indicates that about 13 people have been arrested to date, including two former Travancore Devaswom Board presidents, N. Vasu and P.S. Prasanth, and a former Board secretary, S. Jayasree.

The central figure of loss cited in the proceedings is set out in the Kerala High Court's own record: of the gold said to have been on the panels, only 394.900 grams was re-plated and approximately 4,541.900 grams is alleged to be unaccounted. Every one of these figures is at the investigation stage, and the persons arrested deny wrongdoing. No chargesheet has been filed on the public record.

How It Worked

According to the prosecution case as recorded by the Kerala High Court, the alleged substitution turned on how the temple's ornamental panels were described on paper. The prosecution alleges that gold-cladded Dwarapalaka plates were falsely described as copper items, and that an order dated 5 July 2019 authorised their handover to the first accused for supposed gold plating. The sculptures were then removed from the shrine and taken to Chennai, where, the prosecution alleges, only 394.900 grams of gold was plated back while about 4,541.900 grams was misappropriated. Documents are alleged to have been forged to cover the substitution.

The gold at the centre of the case originates, according to reporting, in a 1998 donation of gold and copper made to the temple for plating and cladding the Dwarapalaka panels, which is why a quantity of this size was on the idols to begin with.

Investigators allege the conduct spanned several years from 2019. A second strand of the case concerns panels sent in September 2025 to a Chennai firm for re-plating, said by investigators to have been done without the High Court's permission and alleged to have been intended to conceal the earlier loss.

The procedural sequence on the record runs from Travancore Devaswom Board vigilance scrutiny, to the Kerala High Court taking up the matter and directing a court-monitored SIT, to the registration of the two FIRs and the arrests from October 2025 onward. The SIT has been filing interim reports to the High Court in sealed cover.

Who Lost Money

The party said to have lost is the corpus of the temple and, through it, the Travancore Devaswom Board and the devotees whose offerings and donations fund it. The quantity alleged to be unaccounted, of the order of 4.5 kg of gold, is drawn from court-monitored inspection comparisons rather than a completed forensic audit, and remains an allegation the investigation must establish.

At current prices, gold of that quantity runs to several crore rupees, though the SIT has not officially fixed a rupee figure and the precise weight is itself part of what the investigation is testing. What matters for the reader is that this is a claimed loss of temple assets, not an established one.

No recovery of the alleged missing gold has been confirmed on the public record. Tracing where the metal went, and reconciling what was gold against what was recorded as copper, is a core object of the investigation rather than a settled fact.

Where It Stands Now

As of the latest available record, the matter remains at the investigation stage under the court-monitored SIT, and no chargesheet has been filed. Several bail applications have been contested. The Kerala High Court dismissed anticipatory bail petitions connected to the case on 4 December 2025, directing the petitioners to surrender before the investigating officer and cooperate. The former Administrative Officer's bail was dismissed on 19 December 2025, with a further application heard on 21 January 2026. According to reporting, the former Board president P.S. Prasanth and a former Board member were arrested on 23 July 2026.

Because the matter is pre-conviction, the presumption of innocence applies in full. An FIR and the allegations it contains are accusations, not findings of guilt; the persons named are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and due process continues.

Denials are on the record. The former secretary, S. Jayasree, told the High Court she had issued orders in line with a Board decision of 19 March 2019 and had no criminal intent. P.S. Prasanth has publicly said the Board "acted with honesty and transparency" and has alleged political motivation behind the case.

What It Means

Whatever the investigation ultimately establishes, the matter is a study in how large religious and charitable trusts safeguard physical assets. The alleged weak point here was not a forged qualification or a fake scheme, but the custody chain for valuables between the moment ornaments left the shrine and the moment they were meant to return, and the paper trail describing what those ornaments were made of.

The practical lesson for any trust or institution holding precious-metal or high-value assets is the same set of controls: an independent asset register that records weight and composition, physical verification against that register, and a documented custody chain whenever an item is removed for repair or plating. Court-monitoring, as here, is a backstop that comes into play only after concerns have already surfaced. Readers can follow other institutional-integrity matters in the Oquilia enforcement archive, including a hospital case in which the NHRC found irregularities and ordered relief and an accreditation matter in which the AP High Court granted bail to a NAAC member.

FAQ

Does this mean the people named are guilty?

No. The case is at the investigation stage. An FIR and the allegations it contains are accusations, not findings of guilt; the persons named are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and due process continues. No court has recorded any finding against them.

What do the FIRs actually allege?

Per the prosecution case recorded by the Kerala High Court, gold-cladded Dwarapalaka plates were described as copper, removed to Chennai for plating, and only 394.900 grams of gold was returned against about 4,541.900 grams alleged to be unaccounted, with documents forged to cover it. The two FIRs invoke IPC Sections 120B, 403, 406, 409, 466, 467 read with 34 and Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.

Why is the High Court involved in a police investigation?

The Special Investigation Team was constituted on the directions of the Kerala High Court and reports to it, filing interim reports in sealed cover. Court-monitoring is a mechanism used where a sensitive investigation is thought to need judicial oversight; it does not decide guilt.

Have the accused responded?

Yes. Those arrested deny wrongdoing. The former secretary S. Jayasree told the High Court she acted in line with a Board decision of 19 March 2019 and had no criminal intent, and the former Board president P.S. Prasanth has publicly stated the Board "acted with honesty and transparency".

Has the missing gold been recovered?

Not on the public record. The alleged shortfall of about 4.5 kg is drawn from inspection comparisons, and tracing the metal and reconciling the records is part of the ongoing investigation rather than a settled outcome.

Where can I read the official record?

The arrest was reported by Prasar Bharati's news service, and the Kerala High Court bail orders in the matter are published on Indian Kanoon.

This report is based on the Prasar Bharati news report of 23 October 2025 and the Kerala High Court orders in S. Jayasree vs State of Kerala (4 December 2025) and B. Murari Babu vs State of Kerala (21 January 2026), reviewed on 4 August 2026.