Murari Babu claims he acted as per orders

Murari Babu, formerly administrative officer of Sabarimala the shrine, arrested in connection with the theft of gold from Sabarimala, has asserted that the gold-covered dwarapalaka idol's plates were recorded in official documents as copper as per instructions from senior Devaswom Board members.

- HD Bureau

Investigators now link that admission to the statement made by Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused in the case, who had told the team that he held knowledge of the gold-plated nature of the pieces and colluded with board officials in the scheme to extract the precious metal. The special investigation team report estimates that about 2 kg of gold was misappropriated from the idols alone and that the board officials conspired to cover this up by recording them as copper assets.

The investigation cites that after dismantling and re --