The Enforcement Directorate (ED) team raided 21 places in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in connection with the case of misappropriation of gold and other valuables of Sabarimala temple. This investigation is being done under money laundering.
According to ED’s investigation, this matter came to light when Kerala Crime Branch registered several FIRs in this regard. It is alleged in the FIRs that some officials of Travancore Devaswom Board, some private people, some middlemen and many jewelers together took out the valuables of the temple. After this, after receiving the order from the court, ED registered ECIR in this case on 9 January 2026 and started investigation.
What did ED find out in the investigation?
During the investigation, ED has come to know that the gold covered sacred objects of the temple were declared as copper plates in the government records whereas in reality they were made of gold. They were taken out of the temple between 2019 and 2025. After this, they were taken to some private places in Chennai and Karnataka and gold was extracted using chemicals. After the gold was extracted, it was sold and the money earned from it was kept by different people. Sent it here and there and hid it.
Let us tell you that ED is considering this money as Proceeds of Crime i.e. income earned from crime. The purpose of the raid was to find out to whom the money went, where it was hidden and who all were involved in this entire network. During this period, ED has collected digital data, documents, account books and jewelery related papers from many places, which will be included in the investigation.
Another thing that has come to light in the investigation is that apart from the sleeping things in the Sabarimala temple, there could be many financial irregularities too, like misappropriation of the things offered in the temple and misuse of money related to rituals. ED is also investigating these aspects.
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