Court rejects bail plea of former TDB member in Sabarimala gold loss cases

Kollam (Kerala), Mar 9 (PTI) A court here on Monday dismissed the bail petition of former TDB member N Vijayakumar in connection with the Sabarimala gold loss cases.

Kollam Vigilance Court Judge Mohit C S rejected the bail plea of Vijayakumar in two cases related to the loss of gold from the doorframes of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) and the Dwarapalaka idols.

Vijayakumar is the 15th accused in the Dwarapalaka case and the 12th accused in the Sreekovil doorframe case. He had sought bail on the grounds of health.

However, after examining the medical records, the court decided not to grant him bail.

Vijayakumar was part of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) that had permitted the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, to do gold plating of the artefacts, after which the gold in them was allegedly lost in 2019. He was arrested in December last year.

So far, eight persons, including the prime accused Potty, have been released on bail.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) is expected to file chargesheets in the two cases related to the Sabarimala gold loss incident before the end of this month. PTI TBA TBA ADB