The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Kochi Zonal Office, on Tuesday (January 20, 2026) raided 21 locations across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to investigate possible laundering of illicit proceeds from the misappropriation of gold-plated copper artefacts and other assets from the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple.
The ED investigation under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, stems from multiple FIRs registered by the High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT-Crime Branch) that point to a deep-rooted criminal conspiracy involving officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), private individuals, intermediaries, and jewellers.
The ED raids covered the headquarters of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) in Thiruvananthapuram and the residence of former TDB president and Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader A. Padmakumar in Aranmula, Alappuzha.
ED officials, escorted by armed paramilitary personnel, also descended on the house of the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, at Pulimathu, Thiruvananthapuram; former TDB Commissioner and later president, N. Vasu, at Pettah, Thiruvananthapuram; and the residence of former TDB executive officer Murari Babu at Perunna, Kottayam.
Officials said the ED simultaneously raided the residence and office of Pankaj Bhandari, owner of Smart Creations, a metal works unit, at Ambattur in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and the private premises of Govardhan, a jeweller accused in the case, at Bellary in Karnataka.
The ED raid comes in the wake of the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Kollam, authorising the agency in early December to open an investigation against the suspects under various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Subsequently, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on January 9, 2026.
The court had overruled the State’s argument that a parallel ED enquiry could jeopardise the ongoing probe by the High Court-appointed SIT and ordered the public prosecutor to hand over documents relating to the crime to the Central agency.
The SIT has so far arraigned 13 persons, including the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple’s chief priest, Kandararu Rajeevaru, as accused in the cases. The charges against them include opening the door for Mr Potti and his alleged accomplices to misappropriate gold-plated moulds that encase the stone carvings, sculptures, and doorway panels of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum.
The SIT case was that the TDB had violated the law by entrusting Mr Potti, a private person, to restore the gilded panels, donated to the temple by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998, to their original golden sheen in 2019. Moreover, it charged the TDB with misrepresenting the gilded panels as made of pure copper to offer legal cover to the accused.
The fraud came to light in 2025 after an internal vigilance enquiry found that the gold content in the panels had diminished significantly when they were returned to the temple after “refurbishment” at Smart Creations, owned by Mr Bhandari.
Subsequently, the SIT booked Karnataka jeweller Mr Govardhan for profiting from the crime by receiving a portion of the gold removed from the original panels via a chemical process. The SIT was also probing whether the accused had replicated the panels in a cheaper copper alloy and sold the originals to wealthy collectors.
The charges against the accused include violations of the Prevention of Corruption Act and various offences under the Indian Penal Code, including forgery to misrepresent the gilded items as made of pure copper, conspiracy, cheating by impersonation, and theft, as well as scheduled offences under the PMLA.
Officials said the surprise inspections focused on seizing documents, digital records, details of benami operations, currency, gold, and other valuables to verify whether the accused had laundered the allegedly illegally acquired wealth.
The investigation has also revealed indications of other financial irregularities and scams at Sabarimala, including misappropriation of funds related to temple offerings and rituals, which the ED is examining under the PMLA framework.
Published – January 20, 2026 09:29 am IST
