The Kerala High Court on Friday sharply criticised the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the high-profile Sabarimala gold theft case, citing serious lapses and warning that "big guns" must not be spared. The court’s remarks came as the SIT recorded two more crucial arrests, bringing the total accused in custody to nine.

Smart Creations CEO Pankaj Bhandari and Bellary-based jeweller Govardhanan, alleged to have purchased gold siphoned from the Dwarapalaka sculptures at Sabarimala, were taken into custody on Friday.

Investigators said the gold plates were smuggled to Chennai, separated at Smart Creations, and subsequently sold to Govardhanan through an intermediary, identified as Kalpesh. Over 800 grams of gold were recovered from Govardhanan’s jewellery shop during earlier evidence collection in Bellary.

Kerala forms SIT to probe lower weight of gold plating on Sabarimala idols

The High Court dismissed bail pleas of several accused and expressed dissatisfaction with the SIT’s “lax and selective” approach. The bench questioned why senior Travancore Devaswom Board members involved in the 2019 decision to remove the gold plates for replating had not been named in the case.

The court described the incident as a rare crime where “the custodians themselves became the destroyers” and stressed that such a large-scale theft could not have occurred without the involvement of senior officials.

Smart Creations initially claimed non-cooperation, stating records were destroyed in a factory fire and providing only a single Excel sheet showing the gold plates’ arrival on August 29. Bhandari’s earlier claim that his firm only plated pure metal sheets was later contradicted during the probe, leading to his arrest following a court summons in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Kerala High Court directed the SIT to conduct a thorough investigation, warning that shielding influential accused would not be tolerated. The bench emphasised that corruption of this scale deeply wounded the religious sentiments of millions of Ayyappa devotees and called for an uncompromising judicial response.

With IANS inputs