Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 13 (ANI): A Special Investigation Team (SIT) from Kerala arrived in Chennai on Monday to intensify its probe into alleged irregularities in the gold-plating restoration of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple, focusing on Chennai-based firm Smart Creations.

According to sources, the SIT team from Kerala questioned the company's CEO, Pangej Bandari, at the firm's head office in Ambattur in connection with the missing gold reportedly linked to the temple's restoration work.

Also Read | Sharjeel Imam, Accused in 2020 Delhi Riots Case, Moves Court Seeking Interim Bail to File Nomination for Bihar Assembly Elections.

Bandari and other key officials of the firm were queried on the reported shortfall of approximately 4.54 kg of gold linked to the 2019 electroplating work on the idols' copper coverings, sources said

The missing gold has sparked a political row in Kerala, where the BJP is accusing the state government of corruption.

Also Read | Karnataka Shocker: Woman Gang-Raped on Pretext of Offering Her Drop on 2-Wheeler in Chikkaballapur; Two Arrested.

In 2019, during repairs, Devaswom records listed the removed panels as copper sheets. When the replated panels were returned, records showed a reduction of 4.41 kg. Unnikrishnan Potty testified that the sheets given to him were copper-based with residual gold, which had been later replated at a Chennai firm.

At the time, KS Baiju served as Thiruvabharanam Commissioner before retiring, and was succeeded by R.G. Radhakrishnan, under whose supervision the work was carried out. Then Devaswom Board President A Padmakumar. Unnikrishnan Potty, along with his associates from Bengaluru, sponsored the 2019 replating.

Meanwhile, the Travancore Devaswom Vigilance, in a detailed report submitted to the Kerala High Court, has exposed a web of serious procedural violations, unauthorised interventions, and suspicious financial dealings surrounding the gold plating of the Dwarapalaka idols and copper panels at the Sabarimala Sreekovil temple.

According to the report, Unnikrishnan Potti, who has no stable income or declared business background, acted as an intermediary in several renovation and offering-related works at Sabarimala, despite not being the actual sponsor for many of them. The vigilance findings make it clear that several temple works attributed to Potti were in fact financed by other private individuals, including businessmen from Bellary and Bengaluru.

The report states that the gold plating of the damaged main door of the Sreekovil was sponsored by one Govardhan, a businessman from Bellary, while the plating of the copper sheets on the roof (Kattilla) was funded by Aji Kumar, a Malayali entrepreneur settled in Bengaluru.

"Potti acted merely as a middleman, facilitating the deals and using his proximity to the Devaswom administration to exercise undue influence," the report stated.

The controversy pertains to alleged irregularities in the gold plating work at the Sabarimala temple, which involved 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper donated by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998 for cladding the sanctum sanctorum and wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)