On Monday, June 19, a 53-year-old man was arrested by the Pampa Police on charges of stealing a gold ornament from the treasury of Sabarimala temple, Kerala. The accused was identified as Rejikumar, a native of Kottayam.
Reportedly, he is an employee of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB)’s Etumanur Vasudevapuram temple.
In the CCTV footage, Rejikumar was seen stealing a gold bangle that was donated by a devotee to the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple.
The theft came to light from CCTV footage
According to the information, this incident of theft took place on the 16th of June. An official of the Devaswom Board had deposited the gold in the temple’s treasury, but there was no record of it. Afterward, the executive officer of Sabarimala filed a complaint.
Later, a CCTV footage investigation was conducted under the leadership of Vigilance SI Biju Radhakrishnan. During the investigation, it was revealed that the bangle had been thrown into the garbage by Rejikumar through the conveyor belt in the warehouse and then retrieved from there.
As per media reports, the accused Rejikumar stole a golden bangle weighing 10.950 grams that was donated by a devotee on June 16. The temple administration found out about the theft through the CCTV footage. The ornament had been offered after informing the TDB officials on duty but it was missing from the collection box.
The Bhandaram Special Officer recovered the missing ornament underneath the suspect’s pillow. Subsequently, he was taken into custody by the Devaswom Vigilance.
Official statement
An official said, “The main hundi at the temple sopanam is connected to a conveyor belt that takes the cash and ornaments to a box placed below. When the Devaswom vigilance team inspected the CCTV visuals, they found the accused standing near the box and concealing the ornament in a waste dump. The ornament was later discovered in his room during an inspection.”
Accordingly, the Police lodged a complaint in this matter and arrested the accused Rejikumar. Reports claim that the accused came to Sabarimala temple on a cash-counting duty for the Masa Puja.
A few days earlier, the Sabarimala temple was opened for Mithunamasa pujas. Led by the Temple Chief K. Jayaraman Namboothiri and under the guidance of Tantri Kantarar Rajivara, the Temple shrine was ceremoniously opened, and the lamp was lit. Following the completion of the five days of Puja, the Nata will be closed on the night of the 20th.
