The Kollam court has granted bail to Murari Babu, a former administrative officer of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), in connection with two cases related to the alleged gold theft at the Sabarimala temple. The bail was granted on the grounds that despite 90 days passing since the investigation began, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has not yet filed a charge sheet. Earlier, the court had granted bail to the main accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, in one of the two cases.
Kollam Vigilance Court Judge Mohit CS granted bail to Murari Babu because 90 days had elapsed since his arrest, and the SIT had failed to file charge sheets in both cases.
Babu is the second accused in the case concerning the alleged loss of gold from the plates of the Dwarpalak (guardian deity) idols and the sixth accused in the case concerning the alleged loss of gold from the frames of the Srikovil (sanctum sanctorum) doors.
Babu, currently held in a special sub-jail in Thiruvananthapuram, will now be released. He will be the first person to be released in the Sabarimala gold loss cases.
He was arrested in October, 2025 for allegedly being involved in the conspiracy to steal gold when the main accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, proposed electroplating the Dwarpalak idols and the Srikovil doors, and Babu forwarded this proposal to the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).
At the time of his arrest, Babu held the position of Deputy Devaswom Commissioner at Haripad and was suspended from service following the gold loss incident that came to light last year.
Earlier, Potti had been granted bail in the Dwarpalak idol case.
SIT names 16 accused
So far, the SIT has named 16 people as accused in the Dwarpalak idol case and 13 people in the Srikovil doors case. Police sources have indicated that if there is further delay in filing the charge sheets, more arrested individuals may approach the court for bail.
However, the Kerala High Court recently expressed satisfaction with the progress of the investigation, stating that a thorough inquiry is ongoing.
