A judicial magistrate court in Coimbatore has sentenced a HR&CE clerk to three years of rigorous imprisonment for misappropriating gold and silver articles belonging to the Perur Pattiswarar Temple chariot. The verdict was delivered on Wednesday, 29 April 2026, by the JM-3 court in Coimbatore, as reported in Dinamani.
According to case records, Mandirasalam, a resident of Vedapatti in Coimbatore district, was serving as an official at the temple. At the same temple, Vivekanandan (45), also from Vedapatti, had been working as a clerk under the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments department.
In 2011, during an inspection of the temple chariot ornaments, Mandirasalam found that 92 grams of gold and 6 kilograms of silver items fixed to the chariot were missing. Following this discovery, he questioned Vivekanandan, who reportedly gave contradictory responses. A case was filed in 2014.
Suspicious of his answers, Mandirasalam filed a complaint at the Perur police station. Based on the complaint, the police registered a case and conducted an investigation. The inquiry established that Vivekanandan had stolen and misappropriated the missing gold and silver items.
He was subsequently arrested in connection with the case and later released on bail.
The case was tried before the JM-3 court in Coimbatore. Upon conclusion of the trial, Judge Venkatesh Kumar found Vivekanandan guilty of temple jewellery fraud and sentenced him to three years of rigorous imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of ₹10,000.
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