Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 8: Former Devaswom Secretary S Jayashree appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Thursday as part of the ongoing probe into the Sabarimala gold theft case.

The Sabarimala gold controversy centres on allegations of irregularities in the gold plating at the Sabarimala temple. This situation arose from a 1998 donation of 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper by industrialist Vijay Mallya, intended for the cladding of the sanctum sanctorum and the wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala.

On Monday, the Kerala High Court expressed satisfaction with the progress of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged heist and plundering of gold from the gold-clad Dwarapalakas and other structures of the Sabarimala Sreekovil, and granted the team an additional six weeks to complete the investigation.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice KV Jayakumar was hearing a suo motu writ petition initiated in connection with the alleged removal and misappropriation of gold cladding from the Sabarimala temple.

When the matter came up, ADGP (Law and Order) H Venkatesh, who heads the SIT, Investigating Officer S Sasidharan, IPS, and the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer of the Travancore Devaswom Board appeared before the Court in person and placed a comprehensive status report detailing the investigation carried out so far.

As per the report, Crime No. 3700 of 2025 was registered in connection with the removal of gold from the Dwarapalaka idol plates and side pillar plates, in which 15 persons have been arrayed as accused and nine arrested. Crime No. 3701 of 2025 relates to the removal of gold cladding from the side frames of the Sreekovil doors and connected plates; in that case, nine out of 12 accused have been arrested.

The SIT informed the Court that 181 witnesses have been examined till date. The investigation spans events from 1998, when gold cladding was initially carried out by the UB Group, up to September 2025, when the Dwarapalakas were sent for gold plating. The probe has been divided into four phases covering gold cladding, replacement of doors in 2019, removal of gold-clad plates, and transactions related to gold plating in 2025.

(ANI)