SIT team probing Sabarimala gold theft recovers items from jeweller: Report

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Oct 25, 2025: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the Sabarimala gold theft has recovered over 400 grams of gold and gold coins from a Ballari-based jeweller, officials said on Friday.

Cash worth around ₹2,00,000 was also seized from the home of the prime suspect, Unnikrishnan Potti, in Pathanamthitta. 

The SIT operation, led by SP Sasidharan, traced the stolen gold to jeweller Govardhan, owner of Roddam Jewellery in Ballari.

According to Mathrubhumi News, who first reported the development, said citing authorities that the gold was sold to Govardhan by Unnikrishnan Potti, who is currently in SIT custody.

Investigators said Potti and Govardhan had developed a friendship at the Sri Rampura Ayyappa Swamy temple, where Potti, presenting himself as a Sabarimala priest, participated in rituals and later sold the stolen gold.

Following the recovery, SIT took Potti back to Sri Rampura temple to gather additional evidence. 

According to the Mathrubhumi report, Potti had sold 476 grams of gold in 2019 at market value, which Govardhan purchased. Financial records reportedly confirm multiple transactions between the two.

The probe also revealed a broader network. Chennai-based Smart Creations allegedly transferred some of the gold to middlemen, including one named Kalpesh, acting on Potti’s instructions.

The issue involves 30.3 kg of gold and 1,900 kg of copper donated in 1998 by industrialist Vijay Mallya for the Sabarimala temple’s sanctum and wooden carvings. A Kerala High Court review later found that the gold-plated coverings had lost a significant amount of weight, raising questions of theft and corruption within the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).

Background investigation indicates that Potti had received gold-clad plates of the Dwarapalaka, the guardian deity, in 2019 from the TDB for electroplating.

He is alleged to have transported these plates without authorisation across temples and private residences in South India.

After electroplating at a Chennai-based firm, the plates were reportedly displayed at various locations in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Kerala.

Potti, who is based in Bengaluru, had also worked at a local temple. Officials noted that some of his sponsored works at Sabarimala were funded by individuals in Karnataka. 

He is now the prime accused in two separate cases involving the disappearance of gold, firstly, from the Dwarapalaka plates and, secondly, from the Sreekovil door frames.

Currently, Potti remains under arrest in connection with the missing gold from the Dwarapalaka plates. SIT continues to probe the extent of his operations and the full network behind the Sabarimala gold theft.