Kerala HC orders fresh SIT inspection at Sabarimala amid gold theft probe

On Tuesday, the Kerala High Court ordered investigators to return to Sabarimala temple for a fresh inspection, pushing deeper into what has become one of India's most significant temple theft cases. The court's two-judge bench, led by Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K.V. Jayakumar, issued the directive after reviewing a scientific report that confirmed what temple officials had begun to suspect: the gold adorning the temple's most sacred spaces had been systematically removed and replaced with inferior material.

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, a government research institution, had examined the temple's precious metal components and found unmistakable evidence of substitution. The gold that now covers the Dwarapalaka sculptures and the door frames of the Sreekovil—the temple's innermost sanctum—does not match the high-purity gold imported from Switzerland and donated by the UB Group in 1998. Instead, investigators discovered low-quality gold layered over copper replicas. The scientific findings suggest a deliberate scheme: original gold components were chemically extracted, then replaced with freshly plated copper versions during what was officially described as routine refinishing work in 2019.

The case centers on the disappearance of approximately 4.54 kilograms of gold from temple artifacts. What began as a maintenance operation—the replating of sacred structures—appears to have been the cover for a theft. The court has now authorized the Special Investigation Team to record detailed statements from multiple officials involved in the 2019 work, signaling that investigators believe the decisions made during that period hold the key to understanding how the gold vanished.

Two former administrators of the Travancore Devaswom Board, the body that manages major temples in Kerala, have already been arrested. KP Sankaradas, a former board member, was detained by the SIT and subsequently remanded in custody by a judge who visited him at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where he is undergoing treatment. Sankaradas had served on the board's administrative committee during the tenure of A Padmakumar, the former board president who was arrested earlier in the investigation. Authorities believe the decisions made during their leadership created the conditions for the alleged misappropriation.

The arrests have triggered a broader backlash. The Sabarimala Karma Samithi, a socio-religious organization, staged a protest outside the Kerala Secretariat demanding that the investigation be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The group's National Vice Chairman, SJR Kumar, alleged that the theft represented a deliberate effort to destroy both the temple and Hindu religion itself. Kumar told reporters that the SIT, being formed by Kerala police, lacked the independence needed for a credible investigation and that only an agency like the CBI could be trusted to pursue the case fairly.

The court's decision to order a fresh on-site inspection suggests that investigators believe more evidence remains to be gathered at the temple itself. The scientific report has provided the forensic foundation for the case—proof that substitution occurred—but the mechanics of how the theft was executed, who authorized it, and where the original gold went remain open questions. The detailed statements the court has authorized will likely focus on the decision-making process that led to the 2019 replating work and the chain of custody for the gold during that period.