Kollam Court Grants Bail to Former TDB Officer Murari Babu, First to Be Released in Gold Loss Case
A Kollam court on Friday granted statutory bail to former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) administrative officer Murari Babu in two cases related to the alleged loss of gold from the Sabarimala temple.
Kollam Vigilance Court Judge Mohit C.S. granted bail to Mr. Murari Babu as 90 days had elapsed since his arrest and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had failed to file charge sheets in the two cases within the stipulated period.
Murari Babu is the second accused in the case concerning the alleged gold loss from the plates of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the sixth accused in the case related to the alleged gold loss from the doorframes of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum).
Currently lodged at a Special Sub Jail in Thiruvananthapuram, Murari Babu is expected to be released by Friday evening. He will be the first person arrested in connection with the Sabarimala gold loss cases to be released from jail.
Murari Babu was arrested in October last year on allegations that, when the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, proposed electroplating the Dwarapalaka idols and the Sreekovil doorframes, he forwarded the proposal to the TDB. He was charged with conspiracy in connection with the alleged gold loss.
At the time of his arrest, Murari Babu was serving as the Deputy Devaswom Commissioner in Haripad. He was subsequently suspended from service after the gold loss incident came to light last year.
The court had earlier granted statutory bail to the first accused in the case, Unnikrishnan Potty in the Dwarapalaka case. However, Potty is still in remand as he was not granted bail in the door frames case.
More arrested people are likely to approach the court seeking statutory bail if there is further delay in filing the chargesheets, police sources said.
So far, the SIT has arraigned 16 people as accused in the Dwarapalaka idol case and 13 people in the Sreekovil doorframe case. However, the Kerala High Court recently expressed satisfaction with the progress of the investigation, stating that an in-depth probe was under way.