Former Travancore Devaswom Board chief P S Prasanth denies involvement in Sabarimala gold heist

Thiruvananthapuram: Former Travancore Devaswom Board president P S Prasanth denied any involvement in the alleged misappropriation of gold from dwarapalaka sculptures at Sabarimala. He also dismissed the allegations that he conspired with sponsor Unnikrishnan Potti to replate temple artefacts as baseless.Prasanth said the only lapse in the case was that gold was taken from the temple in 2025 without informing the court. However, he maintained that no gold went missing and all procedures followed in 2025 were far more stringent than those adopted in 2019.Alleging that his inclusion as an accused was the result of a conspiracy, Prasanth said he would initiate legal action against those who are involved in the conspiracy.

He added that he would fully cooperate with the investigation and present his case before the court.Prasanth said the controversy resurfaced after Potti disclosed on Sept 20, 2025, that the gold-plated pedestal of the dwarapalaka sculpture was missing. A search led by the district police chief initially failed to locate it, but it was later recovered from the house of one of the sculptor 's relatives at Venjaramoodu.

Prasanth said the alleged gold misappropriation incident dating back to 2019 did not come to light until then. He pointed out that the files related to the case were submitted before the court by the devaswom board during his tenure. “Had there been any intention to suppress the facts, those files could easily have been altered or withheld,” he said.He also stressed that it was the devaswom board that had sought a thorough investigation into the matter.Prasanth reiterated that he would extend full cooperation to ensure a transparent probe.