Kollam: Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused in the case relating to the Sabarimala gold theft case, has been granted bail. The bail was allowed by the Kollam Vigilance Court in a case related to the missing gold from the door panels of the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala temple.

The court noted that although 90 days had elapsed since Potti’s arrest, the charge sheet had not been filed. Citing this, Potti had approached the court seeking statutory bail. The court heard detailed arguments on the bail plea over the past two days and, on Thursday, granted bail subject to strict conditions.

Potti was initially arrested in a case involving the removal of gold from the panels of the dwarapalaka sculpture. He had obtained statutory bail in that case on January 21. With the judicial remand period in both cases coming to an end, Potti was produced before the court on Wednesday.

With this, three accused in the Sabarimala gold theft case have now secured bail. Former administrative officer Murari Babu, former executive officer Sudheesh Kumar and former administrative officer S Sreekumar had earlier been granted bail. Murari Babu and Sudheesh Kumar were released on statutory bail, while Sreekumar was granted bail after the court found a lack of sufficient evidence.