The SIT, which is probing the alleged theft of gold from Sabarimala Temple, arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president N Vasu on Tuesday. It was during the tenure of Vasu as TDB commissioner that the alleged theft had occurred.
Vasu was appointed to the board as a nominee of the CPI (M) – a fact likely to give fresh ammo to the Opposition trying to corner Kerala’s ruling party over the issue. CPI (M), for its part, has been blaming TDB officials for the scandal.
Vasu had served as the commissioner of TDB from 2012 to 2019, which manages the Sabarimala Temple, before he became the president of the government entity in 2019.
Formed by the Kerala High Court, the SIT has so far arrested three senior employees of the TDB in connection with the disappearance of gold from temple artefacts.
Vasu was the commissioner in 2019 when the gold-covered copper plates of Dwarapalaka idols and door frames of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum were handed over to self-styled sponsor Unnikrishnan Potty, marking the objects as mere copper items. The court had found that the TDB, during the regime of Vasu, remained silent on the issue despite the disappearance of the gold coming to its notice.
Vasu’s arrest came about after detailed interrogation of three senior executives of the TDB, and Potty, who are in judicial custody.
Last month, the HC had found that a substantial amount of gold was missing from the copper plates when Potty brought them back after a fresh round of gold-plating in Chennai.
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In the past, Vasu had served as private secretary to CPI (M) veteran P K Gurudasan when he was the excise minister from 2006 to 2011. Before that, Vasu had served as the president of Kulakkada village panchayat in Kollam.
