Kollam Vigilance Court to Announce Verdict on Bail Plea of Main Accused in Sabarimala Gold Theft Case
The Kollam Vigilance Court will give its decision on Thursday about the bail request of Unnikrishnan Potti, the main accused in the Sabarimala gold theft case.
Potti asked for statutory bail because the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has not filed the chargesheet even after he has been in custody for more than 90 days. This case is about the alleged theft of gold from the doorframe of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum. Earlier, on January 21, he got regular bail in another related case involving missing gold from the temple’s dwarapalaka (gatekeeper) statues.
Even after getting bail in that case, Potti stayed in jail because the second case was still pending. His lawyer argued that he must be released since the time limit for filing the chargesheet is over. The prosecution said that if bail is given, it should come with strict conditions. Potti was brought to court on Wednesday after his remand period ended.
Vigilance Court in Kollam extended the remand of Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused in Sabarimala gold theft case, by another 14 days. The court is currently considering Potti’s bail plea.
In another related matter, the court will hear the statutory bail request of former Thiruvabharanam Commissioner K.S. Baiju on February 11. Baiju was arrested on November 6 and has now spent 90 days in custody. His lawyers applied for bail on Wednesday. He is accused in both gold theft cases. The SIT says he failed in his duty to protect the temple gold. They also point to a controversial order he signed in 2019 about sending the dwarapalaka statues as an important piece of evidence against him.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) plans to question Potti if he is released on bail and will send him a notice soon. The ED already questioned Murari Babu for several hours and checked his financial records from 2019 onward. He denied having any money dealings with Potti, but the ED may call him again after studying the documents.