Kochi, Feb 6 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate has summoned actor Jayaram for questioning in the Sabarimala gold "loss" case linked money laundering investigation, officials said on Friday.

The central agency is also in the process of summoning Unnikrishnan Potty, the alleged prime accused in this case. He recently came out from jail after obtaining bail from a Kollam court in the same case, that is also being investigated by the Kerala Police Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Actor Jayaram has been called for questioning in the Sabarimala case, officials said. It is understood that he would depose before the agency in the next few days.

The Kerala Police SIT had also questioned Jayaram sometime back in Chennai. A video of the actor and Potty performing a puja together were reported to be the basis of Jayaram's questioning by the SIT.

The actor had then denied any wrongdoing and said he had no links with the company where the replating of gold-clad artefacts of the temple was done or its sponsors.

Potty came out from the Thiruvananthapuram sub-jail on Thursday after a local court in Kollam granted him bail in the second case linked to alleged gold loss.

It was Potty who had approached the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) seeking permission for replating gold-clad artefacts, which was later approved in 2019. The artefacts were subsequently taken to a Chennai-based firm, where the gold plating was carried out.

The Kerala Police SIT, the primary agency probing the case, has claimed that gold was diverted from the artefacts during the replating process.

Early this week, the ED had questioned former TDB administrative officer Murari Babu and S Sreekumar in this case here. Sreekumar is again being questioned by the ED on Friday.

Searches were undertaken by the ED in this case last month.

The ED had said in a statement issued on January 21 that it has frozen 8 immovable assets worth Rs 1.3 crore of Potty and seized a 100 gram gold bar from the premises of an entity named Smart Creations in Chennai during the searches.

It filed a PMLA case on January 9 taking cognisance of two Kerala police FIRs. The politically sensitive case is already being investigated by a state SIT under the supervision of the Kerala High Court.

The probe is related to a series of alleged irregularities, including official misconduct, administrative lapses and a criminal conspiracy, to misappropriate the gold from the various artefacts of the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

Probe found, the ED statement said, that sacred gold-clad artefacts of the temple, including Dwarapalaka idol components, peedams (pedestals) and sanctum sanctorum door frame panels, were deliberately misrepresented in official records as mere "copper plates" and unauthorisedly removed from the temple premises during 2019-2025.

These artefacts were subsequently transported to private facilities in Chennai and Karnataka, including Smart Creations and Roddam Jewellers, where gold was extracted through chemical processes under the guise of repair and replating work, the agency found.

"The extracted gold and related assets constitute proceeds of crime, which were retained, transferred and concealed by the accused persons," it said.

The investigation has also brought to light indications of other financial irregularities and "scams" at Sabarimala Temple, including misappropriation related to temple offerings and rituals, the agency had claimed. PTI NES DV DV

Sabarimala gold loss case: ED summons actor Jayaram in a PMLA probe over alleged temple gold extraction and asset concealment. Enforcement Directorate summoned actor Jayaram in a PMLA money laundering probe alleging that sacred Sabarimala gold clad artefacts were misrecorded as copper, removed for replating, taken to private firms for chemical gold extraction, and that the extracted gold and related assets were retained, transferred and concealed as proceeds of crime; ED has conducted searches, frozen assets and seized a gold bar while investigative questioning continues.