Unnikrishnan Potti will be questioned by TDB vigilance regarding the missing gold coverings at Sabarimala.
According to reports, Unnikrishnan Potti, the main player in the controversy surrounding the alleged "theft and subsequent recovery" of gold-coated copper plates offered as offerings to cover the elaborate artwork on the walls of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, is set to be questioned by the Travancore Devaswom Board's (TDB) vigilance wing.
Mr. Potti told reporters that he would fully cooperate with the TDB investigation. He would not, however, confirm if the TDB had sent him a notice or set up a time for his questioning. He claimed he was innocent of the accusations made against him and that he was the target of a witch hunt by the media.
The controversy began when Mr. Potti claimed that the gold-copper-plated metal overlay used to adorn the stone pedestals of two mythological figurines that flanked the Ayyappa temple's entrance to the sanctum sanctorum had vanished since 2019.
After the TDB Vigilance retrieved the "stolen gilded plates" from his sister's home in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Potti, who had claimed to have provided the coverings, soon found himself in the center of a controversy.
Following an internal audit that found a significant loss of gold covering, estimated at 4 kg since 1999, the High Court then ordered an investigation into the repair and maintenance of the copper-gold alloy plates enveloping the outside of the sanctum sanctorum of the Ayyappa temple, based on the unit's report.
After the TDB Vigilance retrieved the "stolen gilded plates" from his sister's home in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Potti, who had claimed to have provided the coverings, soon found himself in the center of a controversy.
Following an internal audit that found a significant loss of gold covering, estimated at 4 kg since 1999, the High Court then ordered an investigation into the repair and maintenance of the copper-gold alloy plates enveloping the outside of the sanctum sanctorum of the Ayyappa temple, based on the unit's report.
According to Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan, some "shady mediators" who seemed to have unrestricted access to the temple had amassed large sums of money from devotees by, among other things, facilitating darshans and making false promises of expensive offerings at the Ayyappa temple.
Adoor Prakash, a UDF convener, called for a CBI investigation into the "temple theft." Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan claimed that the theft of offerings from thousands of pilgrims at Sabarimala was made possible by the two Pinarayi Vijayan governments in succession.
