Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 26 (ANI): The Special Investigation Team (SIT), appointed by the Kerala High Court has questioned Pankaj Bhandari, CEO of Smart Creation in Chennai, over the alleged disappearance of gold linked to the Sabarimala temple's restoration work.

The company had undertaken the electroplating of gold-clad copper coverings for the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols at the Sabarimala Ayyappan Temple.

The SIT brought the accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, to Chennai after raiding his residence in Bengaluru.

Potti, the prime accused in the Sabarimala gold theft case, was taken to Bengaluru on Friday for evidence collection and has been remanded to police custody until October 30. The SIT is examining his involvement in the 2019 theft of the gold-plated panels from the Sabarimala temple's Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) panels.

On Thursday, the Ranni Court remanded former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) Executive Officer Murari Babu to 14 days' custody in connection with the case.

Babu, currently under suspension, was taken into custody from his residence in Perunna late Wednesday night by the SIT and produced before the court after questioning at the Crime Branch office in Thiruvananthapuram, where his arrest was formally recorded.

According to the SIT remand report, Murari Babu played a key role in falsifying documents that claimed the gold-plated panels from the Sabarimala temple were made of copper. He is the second accused in the 2019 theft of the gilded overlays of the temple's Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) panels. The first accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, was arrested earlier.

The SIT suspects that Babu, who had served in senior positions within the Devaswom Board for several years, colluded with Potti by submitting a false report during the 2019 restoration process. The internal audit wing had earlier held him responsible for the discrepancy.

The case gained renewed attention after Unnikrishnan Potti, in the run-up to the TDB-sponsored Global Ayyappa Sanghamam in September, claimed that four gold-plated panels he donated in 2019 were missing. The TDB Vigilance recovered the missing panels from Potti's sister's residence in Thiruvananthapuram, leading the Kerala High Court to order a detailed SIT probe into all TDB transactions involving him.

Earlier, TDB president PS Prasanth suspended Assistant Engineer K Sunil Kumar for his alleged involvement in the Sabarimala gold theft case. Kumar has been named as an accused in the case. (ANI)