Sabarimala gold theft row: Kerala's 'Sabarimala gold theft' controversy is gaining steam by the day. Protests continued as the state Opposition parties spilled onto the streets as well as raised a ruckus in the Kerala Assembly. The BJP on Thursday staged a protest marches in various cities, including outside the Kozhikode Collectorate and Ernakulam taluka office, against the 'Sabarimala gold theft'. Former BJP state president K Surendran led the march. BJP workers were seen climbing up police barricades to raise their voice against the allege gold theft. K Surendran said: "[Chief Minister] Pinarayi Vijayan looted crores in the Trivandrum gold smuggling case. They also looted crores from other airport-based gold smuggling cases. Now, they are looting the Devaswom treasures, like they recently did in Sabarimala. We are demanding a free and fair enquiry. BJP demands that this case be handed over to the CBI." #WATCH | Kozhikode, Kerala | Former BJP State President K. Surendran says, ". He looted crores from the Trivandrum Gold smuggling case. They also looted crores from other airport-based gold smuggling cases. Now they are looting the Devaswom treasures, like they recently did in… pic.twitter.com/Alxk0wp7e4 — ANI (@ANI) October 9, 2025 To disperse protesters in Ernakulam, the police used water cannons. BJP leader V Muraleedharan, who was part of the Kochi protests, pointed out that it had been more than a week since the alleged gold theft at Sabarimala. Calling the incident a "robbery", he said: "The Chief Minister of Kerala has chosen not to utter a single word about the action being taken by the government. This is highly deplorable. Is it because it is an issue concerning the majority community of the state? Is it because this issue concerns a temple and not a place of worship of any other community?" #WATCH | Kochi, Ernakulam, Kerala: Police use water cannons against BJP workers protesting against the government in front of the Taluka Office, on the Sabarimala gold plating issue. pic.twitter.com/496elzQuez — ANI (@ANI) October 9, 2025 Targeting Devaswom minister V N Vasavan, he asked: "Why did the Devaswom Minister choose not to take any action against the officer who has been found guilty and has been now been suspended. Why was no action taken against him for four years?" UDF MLAs suspended Amid the Opposition's vocal protests in assembly over the Sabarimala issue, three legislators from the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) were suspended from the Kerala Assembly for the rest of the ongoing session. Speaker AN Shamseer took the decision on suspension of the MLAs after Opposition protests stalled proceedings for the fourth day in a row. The motion to suspend the three MLAs — Roji M John, M Vincent, and Saneesh Kumar Joseph — was introduced by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh, citing violations of House rules during the opposition’s demonstration. The resolution was approved by the Assembly in the absence of the opposition, which had boycotted the morning session in protest against alleged irregularities in the gold-plating of the ‘Dwarpalaka’ (guardian deity) idols at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
