SABARIMALA GOLD HEIST

When the claddings were removed, they were recorded as copper plates while the originals were of pure gold

- HD Bureau

What is slowly emerging out of Sabarimala is a tale with all the ingredients of a national scandal.

Call it the Great Indian Gold Heist, for what is surfacing is far too large to be pinned on a single individual.

The current controversy centres around Unnikrishnan Potti, but the facts suggest that a crime of such magnitude could only have been planned and executed by an organised network operating with impunity for years.

The story goes back to 1998, when businessman Vijay Mallya made a generous offering of 30 kilograms of gold to the Sabarimala temple. Kantararu Rajeevaru, the former tantri, has testified that the gold was used to clad the sanctum, including the dwarapalaka idols. Devotees were led to believe that the famed temple had been adorned in pure gold, a matter of pride and faith. But what was uncovered two decades later has shaken that belief to the core.