Kerala Court Grants Statutory Bail to Prime Accused in Sabarimala Gold Theft Case
A court in Kerala has granted statutory bail to Unnikrishnan Potty, the main accused in the Sabarimala gold theft case. Potty is a former assistant Santhi at the Sabarimala Temple.
The order was passed on February 5 by Special Judge Mohit C.S. of the Court of the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Kollam. The detailed bail order is yet to be released.
Potty was arrested in October 2025 in connection with multiple cases linked to the alleged theft and misappropriation of gold from the temple. Earlier, on January 21, he had already been granted statutory bail in a separate case involving the theft of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols. The present bail relates to allegations of gold misappropriation from the doorframes of the Sreekovil.
The bail was granted because the Special Investigation Team (SIT) failed to file the chargesheet within the mandatory 90-day period after arrest, as required under criminal law.
According to the prosecution, the accused persons allegedly conspired after knowing that the Dwarapalaka idols were gold-clad. It is claimed that they falsely reported the idols as copper plates meant only for gold plating, and later misappropriated the gold. The investigation also alleges that the gold-clad items were transported to a Chennai-based firm, Smart Creations, under the pretext of plating work.
Unnikrishnan Potty is accused under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, forgery, and offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In related developments, the court had earlier granted bail to Murari Babu and to S. Sreekumar, the former Administrative Officer of the Travancore Devaswom Board. The Kerala High Court has previously criticised the SIT for delays in filing chargesheets in the case.
