KOZHIKODE: In a significant breakthrough regarding the missing gold ornaments at the famous Balussery Kotta Paradevatha Temple, the Balussery Police have formally arrested T. T. Vinodan, the former Executive Officer of the Malabar Devaswom Board. The police team tracked down and detained Vinodan from Kadiyangad near Perambra. According to the Balussery Circle Inspector (CI), the accused official had been actively evading arrest for several months by hiding in various locations, including Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, and Wayanad.
The breakthrough came just two days after Vinodan secretly returned to the vicinity of his native residence. The police confirmed that the accused will be produced before the local court, and they intend to seek his official custody for detailed interrogation. The state police have registered a criminal case against him under stringent provisions, including cheating, criminal breach of trust, and misappropriation of official property. The legal action was initiated following a formal complaint filed by the temple’s current Executive Officer, Dinesh Kumar. According to the case details, nearly 20 sovereigns of gold ornaments received as holy offerings from devotees went missing. When Vinodan was transferred out of the station in 2023, he willfully withheld the financial accounts and failed to hand over the physical gold assets to the succeeding officers. Records show that Vinodan had originally received a total charge of 57.37 sovereigns of gold from his predecessor.
This major institutional gold theft came to light shortly after similar high-profile controversies hit the Sabarimala shrine, sparking intense public scrutiny over the management of temple assets under the Malabar Devaswom Board. The investigation indicates that the embezzlement took place during Vinodan’s seven-year tenure as the Executive Officer at the Balussery Kotta Paradevatha Temple starting from 2016. Because he did not hand over the audited valuables to the incoming officers at the time of his transfer, the current executive management compiled a comprehensive discrepancy report for the Devaswom Board, which conclusively established the severe shortage of gold assets.
Notably, four different Executive Officers had taken charge at the temple over the last three years due to frequent administrative reshuffles. The systemic shortage was first formally flagged by an incoming officer named Sajeevan, who conducted a physical stock verification of the gold ornaments as their official custodian and discovered that 20 sovereigns were entirely missing. Although Sajeevan promptly issued an official show-cause notice to Vinodan, the latter refused to provide a valid explanation. Subsequent Executive Officers, Haridasan and Dinesh, also confirmed the shortage and sent subsequent legal reminders. As the long-standing issue escalated into a major public controversy, Vinodan reportedly contacted the temple committee members, promising to return the missing gold by the 8th of this month. However, amid growing public outrage over the Devaswom Board’s delay in taking punitive legal action, the current Executive Officer, Dinesh Kumar, approached the local police, leading to Vinodan’s eventual arrest.
ലഘു വിവരണം
ബാലുശ്ശേരി കോട്ട പരദേവതാ ക്ഷേത്രത്തിൽ ഭക്തർ കാണിക്കയായി സമർപ്പിച്ച 20 പവന ഓളം സ്വർണം അപഹരിച്ച കേസിൽ ഒളിവിൽ കഴിഞ്ഞിരുന്ന മുൻ ദേവസ്വം എക്സിക്യൂട്ടീവ് ഓഫീസർ ടി. ടി. വിനോദൻ അറസ്റ്റിലായി. മാസങ്ങളായി വിവിധ നഗരങ്ങളിൽ ഒളിവിൽ കഴിഞ്ഞിരുന്ന ഇയാളെ പേരാമ്പ്ര കടിയങ്ങാട് വെച്ചാണ് പോലീസ് പിടികൂടിയത്. 2016 മുതൽ 2023 വരെയുള്ള കാലയളവിൽ വിനോദൻ നടത്തിയ ഈ സാമ്പത്തിക തിരിമറി പിന്നീട് വന്ന എക്സിക്യൂട്ടീവ് ഓഫീസർമാർ നടത്തിയ ഓഡിറ്റിങ്ങിലാണ് പുറത്തുവന്നത്. ജനരോഷം ശക്തമായതിനെ തുടർന്ന് ഇപ്പോഴത്തെ ഓഫീസർ നൽകിയ പരാതിയിലാണ് അറസ്റ്റ്.
(With inputs from MN)
For more details: Navamalayalam.com