The Kollam Vigilance Court will deliver on Tuesday its verdict on the bail plea of Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused in the case involving the theft of gold from the guardian deity (Dwarapalaka) sculptures in the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. The defence argued that since a chargesheet was not filed within 90 days of the arrest, the accused is entitled to statutory bail. Given that the prosecution did not oppose this, the court may grant bail to Mr. Potti.
However, since Mr. Potti is also an accused in the case involving the theft of gold from the sanctum sanctorum door frame (Kattilappali), he will not be released from jail even if bail is granted in the first case. There still remains three weeks to complete the 90-day period in the second case, and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) is attempting to file at least an initial chargesheet within that time frame.
Tantri’s custody
The court also considered the SIT’s application for one-day custody of former Sabarimala administrative officer S. Sreekumar. He will be produced in court on Tuesday and handed over to SIT custody.The court will also hand over senior Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru for a day on January 22, following a custody application by the SIT. The SIT had stated in the application that recording statements from both Mr. Sreekumar and the Tantri is vital to uncovering the conspiracy. The Tantri’s bail plea will also be considered on the same day.
Meanwhile, the judicial custody of former Devaswom Board president and commissioner N. Vasu has been extended until February 2 in the door-frame gold theft case. As his remand period ended, he was produced before the Vigilance Court and the remand was extended for another 14 days.
Published – January 19, 2026 08:30 pm IST
