Overview
- The court authorised the SIT to collect samples and conduct weighing of gold from idols, pedestals and the newly installed Sreekovil door to determine losses.
- Judges flagged serious gaps in the Travancore Devaswom Board minutes, with no entries after July 28, 2025 and the key September 2 plating decision missing.
- Bench observations cited indications of substantial removal of original gold and later superficial re-plating, with clandestine transports to Chennai presented as repairs.
- The SIT has seven days’ custody of prime accused Unnikrishnan Potti after formally recording his arrest, and it has also arrested Murari Babu and former officer Sudheesh Kumar.
- In filings to the court, investigators said former commissioner N. Vasu told officials to label gold-plated layers as copper, as probes also note two seized peedams and leftover gold allegedly retained by Potti.