The Kerala High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiring into the misappropriation of gold-plated copper moulds covering the stone carvings and sculptures at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple recorded the third arrest in the sensational case on Saturday (November 1, 2025).
Officials identified the suspect as D. Sudheesh Kumar, a former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) executive officer who served at the temple in 2019.
The year 2019 is of crucial importance to the investigation. The prime accused in the case, Unnikrishnan Potti, a former temple assistant backed by wealthy donors, had offered to refurbish the gilded panels, which were donated to the temple by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998.
The SIT’s case was that the panels returned by Mr. Potti to the temple after a protracted period were of lesser weight and contained significantly less gold than the originals.
Facilitating pilferage
