What is the Sabarimala gold ‘theft’ case? | Explained
The Kerala High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team has detained former Travancore Devaswom Board president P.S. Prasanth regarding a gold theft scandal at the Sabarimala temple. The investigation, which began after a donated artefact went missing, has implicated several high-profile political figures and temple officials.
Why it matters
The case highlights significant concerns regarding the administrative integrity and governance of state-owned religious institutions in India.
The story so far: The Kerala High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Thursday (July 23, 2026) detained the former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president P.S. Prasanth for questioning in connection with what has come to be known as the Sabarimala gold ‘theft’ case. Mr. Prasanth’s arrest signals a consequential turn in the sensational case, which continues to rivet public attention and remains an animating factor in Kerala politics.
He is the third TDB president nominated by the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government and indicted by the SIT in the case. Earlier, the SIT had arrested A. Padmakumar, a senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader who has since been suspended from the party, and later, N. Vasu, an LDF fellow traveller designated as TDB president, raising questions about the administration of State-owned temples under the previous ruling dispensation.
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