Sabarimalai temple gold shield issue: ED conducts raids in 3 States
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday intensified its probe into the Sabarimala temple gold theft case and conducted raids across multiple states.
As many as 20 locations are being searched by the ED in Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu in connection with the case.
The Sabarimala gold theft case, which surfaced publicly in 2019, pertains to allegations that gold plating from temple idols and structural components was removed and siphoned off during repair and re-gold plating works.
Investigators have traced the roots of the alleged irregularities back to 1998-99, when extensive gold plating was carried out at the hill shrine.
According to the investigation, in 2019, gold-coated idols weighing 42.8 kg were taken out of the temple for repair. When they were returned, their weight had reduced to 38.2 kg, indicating that around 4.5 kg of gold was missing. The idols of guardian deities and several temple components were sent to a private firm in Chennai for repairs and re-plating, a move the court later described as improper, as such work is usually conducted within the temple premises.