In a major setback to the Kerala government and the ruling Left Democratic Front, the special investigation team (SIT) probing the theft of gold from the gold-plated copper panels of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple recorded the arrest of former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A. Padmakumar in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday (November 20, 2025).
A member of the Pathanamthitta District Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], Mr. Padmakumar is the eighth accused in the case.
The arrest of Mr. Padmakumar, who appeared before the SIT in the morning for questioning, was recorded by 3 p.m. after marathon interrogation led by the SIT team led by its chief S. Sasidharan at an undisclosed location. His arrest was almost certain once the SIT started questioning the former CPI(M) MLA.
The SIT has received clear evidence linking Mr. Padmakumar with the accused who were arrested earlier and the alleged misappropriation of gold at Sabarimala, sources said. The financial transaction between Unnikrishnan Potti, a key accused in the case, and Mr. Padmakumar was also considered by the SIT, and the statements of those arrested earlier, including those of former TDB administrative officer Murari Babu and former TDB Commissioner N. Vasu were against Mr. Padmakumar, according to sources.
There are also clear indications in the statements of those arrested earlier that the manipulation of the records of Sabarimala, including mentioning the gold sheets as copper sheets in the official documents, was with the knowledge of Mr. Padmakumar. The SIT is investigating Mr. Padmakumar’s financial transactions in detail.
It is expected that he will be produced before the Vigilance court in Kollam on Thursday.
Published – November 20, 2025 05:09 pm IST
