Sabarimala gold theft case: High Court angry as delay lets suspects go free

Kochi (Kerala) [India], January 28 (ANI): The Kerala High Court is very unhappy with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the Sabarimala gold theft case. Because the police were too slow to finish their report, some of the main suspects have been allowed to leave jail on "default bail."
By law, if the police do not file a formal charge sheet within 90 days, the accused people have a right to be released. This is exactly what happened with the main suspect, Unnikrishnan Potty, and another man named Murari Babu. Justice A Badharudeen warned that if more people get out this way, the public will stop trusting the investigation.
The court heard these details while listening to a request from Pankaj Bhandari, the head of a company called Smart Creations. He claims his arrest was illegal. The police say that Bhandari and Potty worked together to steal gold from the guardian statues and doorframes of the Sabarimala temple's inner shrine.
They claim the gold items were taken to Bhandari's shop to be stripped down, even though they knew the gold belonged to the Temple Board. The judge has finished hearing the arguments and will give a final decision soon.
Earlier on January 23, Kollam Vigilance Court granted statutory bail to former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) administrative officer Murari Babu in two cases related to the alleged gold loss at the Sabarimala temple. The court granted bail after 90 days had elapsed since his arrest, and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) failed to file charge sheets within the stipulated period.
Murari Babu is the second accused in the case concerning the alleged loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idol plates, and the sixth accused in the case related to the alleged loss of gold from the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) doorframes. He is currently lodged at the Special Sub Jail in Thiruvananthapuram and is expected to be released by Friday evening.
He will be the first accused arrested in the Sabarimala gold loss cases to be released from jail. Murari Babu was arrested in October last year on charges of conspiracy, after allegedly forwarding a proposal to electroplate the Dwarapalaka idols and Sreekovil doorframes to the TDB, as suggested by the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potti. At the time of arrest, Murari Babu was serving as Deputy Devaswom Commissioner in Haripad and was later suspended from service following the incident.
Meanwhile, Unnikrishnan Potti had secured statutory bail in the Dwarapalaka idol case, though he remains in custody in connection with the Sreekovil doorframe case. The SIT has so far arraigned 16 accused in the Dwarapalaka idol case and 13 in the Sreekovil doorframe case. Meanwhile, the court extended the remand of another accused, Thantri Kandararu Rajeevaru, by 14 days, with his bail plea scheduled for January 28. (ANI)