Sabarimala temple artefacts case: Kerala High Court-appointed SIT makes third arrest

The Kerala High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiring into the misappropriation of gold-plated copper moulds covering the stone carvings and sculptures at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple recorded the third arrest in the sensational case on Saturday (November 1, 2025). 

Officials identified the suspect as D. Sudheesh Kumar, a former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) executive officer who served at the temple in 2019. 

The year 2019 is of crucial importance to the investigation. The prime accused in the case, Unnikrishnan Potti, a former temple assistant backed by wealthy donors, had offered to refurbish the gilded panels, which were donated to the temple by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998.

The SIT’s case was that the panels returned by Mr. Potti to the temple after a protracted period were of lesser weight and contained significantly less gold than the originals. 

Facilitating pilferage

According to officials, the SIT has arrested Mr. Kumar on suspicion of having opened the door for the alleged pilferage and possible replication of the original gilded panels by attesting them as made of pure copper while handing them over to Mr. Potti for repair.

The investigation team had summoned Mr. Kumar to the State Police Crime Branch office at Injackal in Thiruvananthapuram for questioning on Friday (October 31, 2025). The SIT will produce Mr. Kumar before the judicial magistrate’s court in Ranni in Pathanamthitta. 

Earlier arrest

Last week, the SIT had arrested a serving TDB official, Murari Babu, who was on deputation to the temple in 2019, on similar charges. Mr. Potti and Mr. Babu are currently in judicial remand at the sub-jail in Thiruvananthapuram. 

Timeline

The SIT has reportedly created a timeline of Mr. Potti’s whereabouts during the period when the religious artefacts were in his possession. It was also attempting to trace the suspected money trail in the crime, including possible investment of the proceeds in land or with loan sharks.

In its court filings, the SIT has accused Mr. Potti of chartering out the gilded casings to wealthy Ayyappa devotees for private worship for sizeable financial recompense.

Smelting or replication

It has also not ruled out the possibility that the suspects could have smelted the moulds for the gold, or possibly replicated them cheaply to sell the originals donated by Mr. Mallya to a wealthy collector. 

Antecedents and connections

The SIT was reportedly probing Mr. Potti’s alleged patrons within the temple orthodoxy, who facilitated darshans for wealthy business people, including film stars, in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. 

Officials said Mr. Potti reciprocated by contracting high-ranking Ayyappa temple priests for conducting private poojas for sizeable backhanders at the homes and business establishments of wealthy devotees. 

The SIT had also inspected the metalworks unit in Chennai, which Mr. Potti had contracted for restoring the gold-plated copper coverings to their original sheen. However, it has not named the management as an accused in the case. 

Political Appointees

Moreover, officials privy to the probe indicated that the investigation was edging closer to serving and retired TDB officials, including former TDB presidents and Devaswom Commissioners, several of them political appointees.