KOLLAM: The Kollam Vigilance court has granted bail to thanthri Kandararu Rajeevaru in Sabarimala gold theft cases.
The bail was granted to cases registered for theft of gold from the door frames as well as dwarapalaka idols.
The bail was granted 41 days after the thanthri was arrested by the SIT. Several accused including main culprit Unnikrishnan Potty were released on bail earlier. All of them were granted statutory bail after the SIT failed to file chargesheets against them within 90 days of their arrests. However, in thanthri's case that bail was granted much earlier after the court overruled the prosecution's objection.
The SIT had informed the court that the thanthri was instrumental in convincing the Travancore Devaswom Board to move the artefacts out of the temple for repair works in Chennai. The cops also had informed that the thanthri played a direct role in the gold heist and had amassed wealth which was not reported to the Income Tax.
However, the thanthri's response was that he was concerned about spiritual aspects of the temple and did not hold any role in administrative affairs of the shrine.