General
Sabarimala gold discrepancy
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on Tuesday suspended Haripad Devaswom’s deputy commissioner B Murari for wrongly recording the gold-plated coverings of Dwarapalaka idols at Sabarimala temple as copper panels in the report he, as the then Sabarimala administrative officer, submitted to the Sabarimala executive officer on July 17, 2019.The board’s decision comes a day after Kerala high court formed a special investigation team an SIT to probe into the alleged discrepancies in the weight of the gold-plated copper coverings of Dwarapalaka idols.
TDB president P S Prasanth said the warranty for the Dwarapalaka idols, issued in the name of Unnikrishnan Potti, who sponsored the gold plating, at Smart Creations – a Chennai-based firm where the gold-plated panels were sent for work – would be cancelled.
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“Further action will be taken against more retired officials once the final vigilance report is received,” Prasanth said, adding that the board wants to resolve the entire issue before Mandalakala-Makaravilakku festival season.However, the suspended officer, Murari Babu told reporters: “I am an obedient employee of the board.My job was only to provide a preliminary report. I am not a party to what happened later.”