TDB vigilance poised to question Unnikrishnan Potti concerning missing gold coverings at Sabarimala

The vigilance wing of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) is reportedly poised to question Unnikrishnan Potti, who has emerged as the central figure in the controversy surrounding the alleged “theft and subsequent recovery” of gold-coated copper plates given as offerings to cover the intricate works of art on the walls of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. 

Mr. Potti told reporters that he would fully cooperate with the TDB investigation. However, he declined to say whether the TDB issued him a notice or scheduled a date for his interrogation. He said he was the victim of a media witch-hunt and was innocent of the charges levelled against him.

Mr. Potti had sparked the controversy by alleging that the gold-copper-plated metal overlay for embellishing the stone pedestals of two mythological figurines flanking the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum of the Ayyappa temple had gone missing since 2019. 

Soon, Mr. Potti, who claimed to have offered the coverings, found himself in the eye of a storm after the TDB Vigilance recovered the “stolen gilded plates” from his sister’s house in Thiruvananthapuram.

Subsequently, the High Court, based on the unit’s report, ordered an investigation into the repair and maintenance of the copper-gold alloy plates enveloping the outside of the Ayyappa temple’s sanctum sanctorum, following an internal audit that revealed a significant loss of gold covering, estimated at 4 kg since 1999.

The High Court had also ordered an investigation into the removal of gold-plated coverings from the temple and their subsequent dispatch to Chennai for repair, without the prior sanction of the court-appointed Special Commissioner. 

TDB president P.S. Prasanth told reporters that TDB officials had erred in enlisting the help of intermediaries for repairing gold plates outside the temple precincts. He said the TDB Vigilance wing probe would cover the gold-plating of the temple by liquor baron Vijay Mallya in 1999 to the current period. 

Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan stated that some “shady mediators”, who appeared to have a free rein in the temple, had collected substantial amounts of money from devotees, falsely promising costly offerings at the Ayyappa temple and facilitating darshans, among other activities. 

UDF convener Adoor Prakash demanded a CBI probe into the “temple theft”. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the two consecutive Pinarayi Vijayan governments had facilitated the pilferage of offerings received from lakhs of pilgrims at Sabarimala.