Sabarimala Gold Theft: SIT Assures Kerala HC of Final Report Within 30 Days

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold theft case informed the Kerala High Court on Monday that a final report on the alleged misappropriation at the temple would be submitted at the earliest.

The investigating agency notified the court that the final report on the alleged pilfering of gold from the door frame to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple would be filed within 30 days. The sanction to prosecute the accused officials would be obtained thereafter.

The final report on the offences registered against the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols in the temple would also be filed without delay. The transactions related to the alleged pilfering of gold in September 2025 would be clubbed with this crime and investigated together.

A Division Bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan and K.V. Jayakumar noted that the scientific report from the CSIR National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, was received only on July 6 and that it explained the delay in the investigation.

H. Venkitesh, the Additional Director General of Police (Crimes), filed a report revealing that the stripping salt seized from Smart Creations, a Chennai-based company where the idols were allegedly taken for gold plating, was also sent to the lab to determine whether the salt could have been used to strip the gold cladding from the copper plates as alleged by the prosecution.

The report stated that the laboratory's final opinion provided an explanation of the entire process allegedly adopted by the accused in committing the charged offence. The test provided insights into the quality and quantity of gold originally used in the gold panels and then later in nano cladding at Smart Creations. The SIT had also paid a visit to the laboratory to take statements of the scientific officers involved in the analysis.