SIT arrests former TDB chief in Sabarimala theft case

Vasu, who served as the president of the TDB between 2019 and 2021, was produced before a magistrate’s court in Pathanamthitta.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the misappropriation of gold assets from the Sabarimala temple arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president N Vasu for his alleged involvement in the case, an officer familiar with the case said.

N Vasu, who served as the president of the TDB between 2019 and 2021, was produced before a magistrate’s court in Pathanamthitta. (HT PHOTO)

Vasu, who served as the president of the TDB between 2019 and 2021, was produced before a magistrate’s court in Pathanamthitta.

The officer confirmed that Vasu, also a CPI(M) leader, was arraigned as the third accused in the chargesheet filed by the SIT in the case and was subjected to several rounds of questioning before his formal arrest on Tuesday.

Before taking over as the president of TDB in 2019, Vasu served twice as the Devaswom Commissioner in Sabarimala. It was during his term as the Commissioner that the gold-clad sheets covering the ‘dwarapalaka’ idols were handed over to priest-turned-businessman Unnikrishnan Potty under the guise of ‘gold re-plating’ in Chennai. It was found that when the sheets were returned to Sabarimala, they weighed four kilograms less, leading to the conclusion that there was theft of gold from the sheets.

It was also allegedly on Vasu’s instructions that the gold-clad plates were misrepresented as ‘copper plates’ both in the mahazar and the Devaswom documents.

The SIT also accuses Vasu of doing nothing when he received an e-mail from Potty wherein the latter stated that he was in possession of some extra gold, retrieved from the ‘dwarapalaka’ sheets, that he wishes to donate to the family of a financially-weak woman for marriage-related purposes. Despite knowing about Potty possessing gold belonging to the temple, Vasu, it is speculated, did not take any step to retrieve it.

The arrest of Vasu is the most high-profile development in the case and buttresses the Opposition’s argument that he got involved in alleged gold theft with the knowledge of the top CPI(M) state leadership at the time.

His arrest also turns the SIT’s focus towards A Padmakumar, senior CPI(M) leader and former MLA, who served as TDB president prior to Vasu.

The Kerala high court, which is monitoring the SIT investigation, has observed that top officials of the TDB colluded with Potty to steal gold assets from the temple.

“What appears at first glance to be an act of devotion has on closer scrutiny all the hallmarks of a calculated deceit. It is deeply alarming that the Devaswom Board authorities have been shockingly casual and negligent in permitting an individual of questionable integrity to take measurements and produce replicas of sacred and invaluable temple elements..” the court said last week.