T'PURAM: In a setback to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), Unnikrishnan Potty, the prime accused in the Sabarimala gold theft incidents, was on Tuesday granted bail in the second case by the Kollam Vigilance Court.
Potty was granted bail in the case pertaining to the alleged theft of gold from the door frames of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple after the SIT failed to file its chargesheet within 90 days of his arrest.
Earlier, the court had granted him bail in the dwarapalaka idols case as well on similar grounds.
Potty was the first person to be arrested in the sensational case and is expected to walk out of prison later today. Ahead of Potty, three of his co-accused had obtained statutory bail.
Former Sabarimala administrative officer Murari Babu, former Sabarimala executive officer Sudeesh Kumar, and former administrative officer S Sreekumar had secured bail earlier.
Potty is accused of conspiring to execute the pilferage of gold from Sabarimala artefacts under the pretext of carrying out maintenance works in Chennai.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate is expected to summon Potty for questioning following his release.