Former BJP state president K Surendran has demanded that the Congress party disclose the circumstances under which senior Congress leaders Adoor Prakash and Anto Antony met Sonia Gandhi along with Unnikrishnan Potty, the prime accused in the Sabarimala gold robbery case. Addressing a press conference, Surendran alleged that serious questions have arisen regarding the role of Congress leaders in facilitating meetings linked to the accused.
Surendran said that a photograph has surfaced showing Unnikrishnan Potty, the main accused in the gold robbery, along with the businessman who allegedly purchased the smuggled gold, in the presence of Sonia Gandhi. Raising pointed questions, Surendran asked who introduced Potty to Sonia Gandhi and under what circumstances such a meeting took place. He claimed that these revelations strengthen suspicions surrounding the political patronage behind the case.
According to Surendran, it has now become increasingly evident that priceless antiquities and idols were stolen from Sabarimala with the complicity of the Kerala government, the Devaswom Minister, and officials of the Devaswom Board. He asserted that the objective was not merely gold theft, but the smuggling of invaluable religious artefacts into the international market. These were not ordinary gold items, he said, but priceless idols and antiques of immense historical and spiritual value.
Surendran further claimed that after the businessman involved in the case revealed crucial details and gave statements to the investigation team, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and other opposition congress leaders retreated from their earlier positions. He alleged that the subsequent silence and defensive posture adopted by Congress leaders only deepened public suspicion and pointed to a coordinated attempt at a cover-up.
The BJP leader also alleged that the CBI has already established that individuals linked to Sonia Gandhi operate establishments in Italy that deal in antiques and idols. He claimed that the agency had informed a Delhi court of this in connection with another case. Surendran further said that similar attempts to smuggle mandir idols and antiques have been made from several prominent mandirs in Tamil Nadu, suggesting the existence of a wider, organised network involved in the illegal antiquities trade.
Surendran said there is growing suspicion that Unnikrishnan Potty and his associates gained access to Sonia Gandhi through the mediation of loksabha MP Anto Antony and Adoor Prakash MP, with the intent of exporting the stolen idols to the international market. He recalled that Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala himself had earlier stated that an industrialist friend abroad had informed him that such a meticulously planned robbery was carried out because the idols fetch crores of rupees in the global antiques market, far exceeding the value of ordinary gold.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), Surendran claimed, has also expressed doubts about whether the Sabarimala gold robbery is linked to the illegal idol antiquities trade. He alleged that the case has a clear international dimension, but the current SIT investigation is being manipulated to protect several influential figures. According to him, after the investigation team questioned Kadakampally Surendran, former Devaswom minister, the probe was deliberately altered out of fear that it would reach the highest levels of the state government. Surendran further alleged that two CPM-affiliated police officers were deliberately inducted into the investigation team to sabotage the probe. He claimed that the government is attempting to derail the investigation once it became apparent that it could implicate top leaders and officials.
He also alleged that while the investigation had reached senior Devaswom officials such as Padmakumar and Vasu, there is a deliberate effort to prevent it from proceeding further to Shankardas. However, Surendran said that due to the strict intervention of the court, the investigation team is now preparing to question and arrest several individuals.
Concluding his remarks, Surendran said developments in the case are increasingly validating the BJP’s long-standing demand for a CBI probe. He claimed that public sentiment in Kerala reflects deep anger and suspicion, remarking sarcastically that people are now asking, “Who sold the gold to the comrades, Ayyappa? Who sold the gold to the Congress, Ayyappa? Who alone reaped the profits?”, pointing to what he described as the role of the ‘INDI alliance’ in the gold robbery.
