The former administrative officer of the Sabarimala temple, Murari Babu, was detained by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the alleged misappropriation of gold plating from Lord Ayyappa’s sacred shrine. Babu was taken into custody last night and brought to Thiruvananthapuram early Thursday morning.
He is expected to be questioned alongside Unnikrishnan Potti, another key individual entrusted with the temple’s gold-plating work in 2019, who is already under arrest.
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Investigators allege that Babu manipulated temple records by categorizing gold items as copper, effectively concealing the disappearance of valuable material from the temple’s inventory.
The SIT has also seized the Travancore Devaswom Board’s Minutes Book from 2019, which documented the official decision to hand over gold sheets and plating materials to Potti. According to the SIT report submitted to the Kerala High Court, certain members and employees of the Devaswom Board may have acted on behalf of private individuals, indicating deliberate manipulation of official records.
The investigation continues, with authorities seeking to trace the missing gold and hold those responsible accountable.
(This story is published from a syndicated feed)
