In a major development in the Sabarimala temple gold disappearance case, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Saturday arrested former Devaswom Board executive officer Sudheesh Kumar after hours of questioning at the Crime Branch office in Thiruvananthapuram.

According to investigators, Kumar is accused of falsifying temple records by listing the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols as copper-plated when they were, in fact, gold-clad. Officials said the misrepresentation enabled the removal of the original gold plating during temple restoration work in 2019.

Kumar, who had long association with the Sabarimala shrine since the 1990s, allegedly knew that the sanctum sanctorum, including the Dwarapalaka idols, had been gold-plated during the 1998–99 renovation, news agency PTI reported.

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