SIT Intensifies Probe into Sabarimala Gold Theft

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Kerala High Court is stepping up its investigation into the Sabarimala Temple gold theft case. The team is carrying out searches and questioning people in and around Rajapalayam in Virudhunagar district, as part of a deeper probe into the disappearance of temple gold.

The investigation began after serious allegations that large amounts of gold plating from sacred items at the famous Sabarimala Ayyappan Temple in Kerala were stolen during restoration work in 2019 and 2025. The Kerala High Court asked the SIT to investigate after officials noticed missing gold plates that had been sent to workshops in Chennai and other cities.

Local police said that SIT officers, led by senior DSP Suresh Babu, searched the home of a man named Krishna in Rajapalayam and questioned him at the Sethur rural police station. The SIT has also asked him to report to its office in Thiruvananthapuram for further questioning. Krishna, however, denied any connection to the case and said that no gold or related items were found during the search.

The Sabarimala gold theft case has already led to several arrests, including former officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board and others suspected of removing gold-plated shields from the Dwarapalaka idols and panels from the temple’s sanctum sanctorum. Investigators say there is a shortfall of 4.54 kilograms of gold, raising concerns that it was misappropriated during restoration and gold-plating work carried out by private contractors.