Sabarimala gold row: Court grants statutory bail to former TDB Thiruvabharanam Commissioner

The Kerala Hight Court directed the SIT to conduct a detailed scientific analysis in both the case, which might lead to further delay in the filing of charge sheets.

Kollam: A court here on Thursday granted statutory bail to former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) Thiruvabharanam Commissioner K S Baiju in one of the cases related to the gold loss from the Sabarimala temple.

Kollam Vigilance Court Judge Mohit C S granted bail to Baiju in the case concerning the alleged gold loss from the doorframes of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) failed to file a charge sheet within 90 days of his arrest.

However, Baiju, the fourth accused in the Sreekovil doorframe case, will remain in jail, police sources said.

He is also the seventh accused in the case related to the loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) plates and is not yet eligible for statutory bail in that case.

So far, the court has granted bail to five of the 12 people arrested in connection with the Sabarimala gold loss incident, and they have been released.

Meanwhile, the court extended the remand period of former TDB president K P Sankara Das.

With the Kerala High Court directing the SIT to conduct a detailed scientific analysis in both cases, further delay in filing the charge sheets is expected.