KC Venugopal, a senior Congress leader, said on Saturday that the Sabarimala temple is sacred for all Indians. He added that the recent gold‑theft claim shows the Kerala government and the Devaswom Board are trying to hide the facts.
He demanded a court‑ordered investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). “Only a CBI probe supervised by the court can uncover the real culprits,” Venugopal told .
The case first surfaced after the Kerala High Court stepped in. The court now directs the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged theft and hand in a sealed report within six weeks. The SIT must keep all findings confidential and share them only with the court.
Devaswom Board minister V‑N Vasavan said a vigilance inquiry found lapses at the official level. He told reporters that the government trusts the judiciary and that no white‑collar thief should escape justice.
Vasavan urged that every person involved face punishment. “What happened is theft. There is no excuse for it,” he said.
BJP leader V. Muraleedharan has criticised the state government, calling for the Devaswom minister’s dismissal and the dissolution of the Travancore Devaswom Board. He said the High Court’s order shows the government has betrayed devotees’ trust.
The controversy began over irregularities in gold plating work at Sabarimala. The temple uses 30.3 kg of gold and 1,900 kg of copper that industrialist Vijay Mallya donated in 1998 for cladding the sanctum and carvings. The court now treats the case as a potential robbery.
Source: aninews
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