Sabarimala gold loot case: Court grants bail to former TDB official Murari Babu

THE Kollam Vigilance Court on Friday granted statutory bail to former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) Administrative Officer Murari Babu in two cases related to the alleged loss of gold at the Sabarimala temple.

Vigilance Court Judge Mohit CS granted bail as 90 days had elapsed since Babu’s arrest and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had failed to file charge sheets in both cases within the stipulated period.

Babu is the second accused in the case relating to the alleged loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the sixth accused in the case concerning the alleged loss of gold from the frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) doors.

Currently lodged in a special sub-jail in Thiruvananthapuram, Babu will now be released. He is the first accused to be granted bail in the Sabarimala gold loot case.

Murari Babu was arrested in October 2025 for his alleged role in a conspiracy to steal gold from the Sabarimala temple. The SIT found that Babu had allegedly misrecorded the gold plating on the Dwarapalaka sculptures as copper plating. The investigation also revealed that his intervention led to the gold plating being sent to Unnikrishnan Potti for renovation.

Earlier, the court had granted bail to the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, in the case related to the alleged loss of gold from the Sreekovil door frames of the Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala. However, Potti continues to remain in jail as he has also been arrested in the case concerning the alleged loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols.