SIT detains former TDB chief Prasanth in Sabarimala gold case

Former Travancore Devaswom Board president PS Prasanth was arrested in the Sabarimala gold misappropriation case after the Kerala High Court directed the SIT to expedite its probe. Prasanth denied wrongdoing, alleging political vendetta and claiming his board exposed the alleged 2019 gold theft

Thiruvananthapuram: With the Kerala High Court directing the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to expedite the Sabarimala gold misappropriation probe, former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president PS Prasanth was taken into custody from his residence in the state capital on Thursday.

Two former TDB presidents, both CPI(M) leaders, after being arrested and in jail, are now out on bail. Prasanth’s arrest comes barely days after the SIT informed the High Court that it would file the final report in one of the two cases within 30 days, stating that scientific examination of the temple artefacts had helped establish how the alleged offence was committed.

---

The court has posted the matter for September 3 while the SIT is also considering registering a third case. Prasanth, a former Congress leader who joined the CPI(M) after his defeat in the 2021 Assembly elections, was later appointed president of the Travancore Devaswom Board, the statutory body administering temples in south Kerala, including the famed Sabarimala shrine.

The SIT has registered two separate cases relating to the alleged disappearance and misappropriation of gold from temple artefacts. Several accused were arrested but later secured statutory bail after the agency failed to file charge sheets within the prescribed period.

One of the accused has since died. Investigators are also expected to take into custody two more members of the administrative team that functioned under Prasanth.

The controversy surfaced during Prasanth’s tenure after questions were raised over the restoration of the temple’s Dwarapalaka (guardian) sculptures, following which he was questioned by the SIT on multiple occasions.

Hours before his arrest, Prasanth issued a lengthy Facebook post claiming he was being made an accused not for wrongdoing but for exposing the alleged 2019 gold theft. “What was our mistake in 2025?” he asked, alleging that his Board had acted honestly and transparently and had become instrumental in bringing the 2019 Sabarimala gold theft case to light.

He described the move against him as politically motivated and said he had anticipated his arrest.

Prasanth maintained that the decision to send the Dwarapalaka sculptures to Chennai for restoration was taken solely to remove ritual impurity caused by damaged sculptures which had allegedly injured temple staff during cleaning.

He insisted the Devaswom suffered “not even a single rupee” in loss, arguing that the weight and gold content of the restored sculptures had actually increased after reinstallation.

Rejecting allegations of conspiracy, he contended that the failure to inform the Special Commissioner before shifting the sculptures was an administrative lapse by officials, not a Board decision.

He also claimed it was his Board that submitted the 2019 records to the High Court and later handed over all documents sought by the SIT, leading to the alleged gold scam coming to light.