Sabarimala gold loss cases: Court grants former TDB officer Murari Babu statutory bail

A court in Kollam on Friday granted statutory bail to former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) administrative officer Murari Babu in two cases related to alleged loss of gold at the Sabarimala temple.

Kollam Vigilance Court Judge Mohit CS granted Mr. Babu bail as 90 days had passed since his arrest and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had not filed charges in the two cases.

Mr. Babu is the second accused in the case related to the alleged loss of gold from the idol plaques of Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) and the sixth accused in the case related to the alleged loss of gold from the door frames of Sreekovil (sacred sanctum).

Mr. Babu, currently lodged in the Special Sub-Jail in Thiruvananthapuram, is expected to be released on Friday evening.

He will be the first person to be arrested and released from jail in the Sabarimala gold loss cases.

In October last year, when prime accused Unnikrishnan Potti suggested electroplating of Dwarapalaka idols and Sreekovil door frames, Babu was arrested amid allegations that he had forwarded the proposal to TDB.

He was arrested on conspiracy charges related to the alleged loss of gold.

At the time of his arrest, Mr. Babu was serving as Deputy Commissioner of Devaswom in Haripad and was later suspended after the gold loss incident came to light last year.

Earlier, Mr. Potti was granted statutory bail by the court in the Dwarapalaka idol case.

SIT has so far arraigned 16 people as accused in the Dwarapalaka idol case and 13 people in the Sreekovil door frame case.

However, the Kerala High Court recently expressed satisfaction with the progress of the investigation and said an in-depth investigation was ongoing.