Babu had recorded the temple's gold-coated Dwarapalaka plates as copper before sending them for repair to Chennai.
Published Oct 23, 2025 | 11:43 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 23, 2025 | 11:43 AM
Murari Babu. (Supplied)
Synopsis: SIT arrested former TDB officer Murari Babu for questioning in the Sabarimala Temple gold plating scam. Babu allegedly misrecorded gold-coated Dwarapalaka plates as copper in 2019. The Kerala High Court ordered a detailed probe, suspecting irregularities and cover-up.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala Temple gold plating scam on Thursday, 23 October, arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) administrative officer Murari Babu.
The SIT had detained Babu from his residence in Perunna in the Kottayam district of Kerala on Wednesday night for questioning.
Babu, earlier suspended by the TDB, had in 2019 reportedly recorded the temple’s gold-coated Dwarapalaka plates as copper before sending them for repair to Smart Creations in Chennai through Unnikrishnan Potti.
The SIT had submitted a preliminary report to the Kerala High Court, which includes statements from Unnikrishnan Potty, the prime accused, against TDB officials.
According to the remand report filed at the Ranni court, Potty allegedly falsified mahazar records in 2019, showing gold-clad panels as copper, and handed them over to others with forged signatures. He is accused of diverting around two kilograms of gold under the pretext of gold-plating the dwarapalaka idols, despite the work being completed in 1998.
The SIT has also placed certain TDB officials under scrutiny for approving the transport of panels to Chennai while knowing the idols were already gold-plated.
The high court, after reviewing the SIT’s preliminary report, directed a detailed probe, observing that damage and gold loss on the Dwarapalakas were detected as early as 2024.
The court noted that officials bypassed tender norms by again assigning the 2025 repair to Potti, who was described as having “dubious antecedents” and questioned whether the returned idols were genuine.
It held several Devaswom officials accountable for failing to weigh and verify the items, suspecting that the re-entrustment was intended to cover up the 2019 irregularities.
The court also issued an interim order in the case, directing the SIT to probe whether a larger conspiracy was behind the theft. The case will be reconsidered on 15 November.
The alleged gold discrepancy surfaced when the court, acting on a suo motu petition, noted that the gold-clad copper panels of the dwarapalaka idols and peedam were removed without informing the special commissioner.
The SIT was earlier constituted to probe the missing gold from the dwarapalaka idols, and the bench has now asked the team to also examine possible losses in the lintels and side frames of the sanctum sanctorum at Sabarimala.
(Edited by Amit Vasudev with inputs from Sreelakshmi Soman.)
