Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 22 (IANS) Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the president of the Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding a probe by Central agencies into the alleged gold scam linked to Sabarimala.

This fresh demand comes hours after a high-level State BJP delegation led by him called on visiting President Droupadi Murmu late Tuesday night at the Kerala Raj Bhavan and apprised her of the gold scam in Sabarimala temple.

These demands come at a time when the Kerala High Court has appointed an SIT to probe the gold scam.

In his letter to HM Shah, Chandrasekhar urged that financial dealings related to the temple over the past three decades be thoroughly examined.

He said the facts that have emerged so far are “deeply shocking” and that only a strong and transparent investigation can restore the confidence of devotees.

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court has directed that the role and possible conspiracy involving officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) must be probed thoroughly.

The case revolves around gold plating from the Dwarapalaka plates, which were handed over to the now-arrested ‘sponsor’ Unnikrishnan Potti in 2019, and are now suspected to have been misappropriated.

The court noted several irregularities, including discrepancies in records that described gold sheets as copper, a lack of weight verification upon return, and the absence of proper documentation in the temple’s registry. Investigators suspect that the gold returned may not be the same as what was taken from the sanctum.

In 2024, the gold plating was found to have tarnished despite being under a 40-year warranty, prompting the Board to reassign the work to the same craftsman, a move the court observed may have been intended to cover up the original lapse.

The court also questioned the sudden reversal of the Devaswom Commissioner’s earlier stance on using traditional methods for gold plating.

Taking note of the seriousness of the case, the High Court directed the SIT to seize and preserve the TDB minutes book and probe the involvement of officials at all levels.

–IANS

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