TDB (Travancore Devaswom Board) president PS Prasanth said on Friday that the Board was "completely satisfied" with the ongoing SIT probe into the loss of gold from the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala. He expressed hope that the missing precious metal would be recovered and the culprits punished.
Prasanth said the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was progressing effectively and that the TDB has "complete confidence" in the investigation.
He further claimed that it was the recently arrested former administrative officer B Murari Babu who wanted to hand over the gold-plated copper claddings of the 'Dwarapalaka' (guardian deity) idols to Bengaluru-based businessman Unnikrishnan Potty for gold-plating. The Board, he maintained, has issued no orders that would benefit either Babu or Potty.
Prasanth said that Babu had favoured handing the claddings to Potty for the gold-plating work because the businessman had provided a warranty when he carried out similar plating work in 2019.
"Murari Babu said that the Board will lose lakhs of rupees if it gets the gold-plating done through someone else. So we ordered that thanthri's (chief priest's) permission be sought. The thanthri allowed taking away of the idols' claddings to Chennai for electroplating, but not the door frames or other claddings," Prasanth noted.
The TDB president later told reporters that it was unfair for the media and the Congress-led opposition to seek an explanation from the current Board for matters that occurred in 2019. He also rejected allegations against him of amassing disproportionate wealth, claiming he only possesses assets worth a few lakhs. Prasanth then challenged Leader of Opposition in the state assembly VD Satheesan, who has called for the dissolving of the current Board, to disclose his own assets.
Babu, who was suspended by the TDB following the gold missing row, was arrested by the SIT on Thursday and subsequently remanded to judicial custody. He is an accused in two cases related to the disappearance of gold from the gold-clad plates of the Dwarapalaka idols and the door frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple.
In 2019, when the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, proposed electroplating the Dwarapalaka idols to the TDB, Babu forwarded the proposal to the board, claiming the gold-clad plates were made of copper. He reportedly forwarded a similar proposal from Potty again in 2025. Babu was serving as Deputy Devaswom Commissioner in Haripad when he was recently suspended from service.
The SIT, which is probing the case under the direction of the Kerala High Court, has already arrested Potty. The loss of gold was revealed after the High Court initiated a plea on its own regarding the removal of the Dwarapalaka idols' claddings for gold-plating without informing the court.
Also read: 2019 TDB under scrutiny over missing Sabarimala gold
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