Sabarimala gold theft; K P Sankaradas’ anticipatory bail plea postponed to Friday

KOLLAM: The court has postponed the hearing of the anticipatory bail plea filed by former devaswom board member K P Sankaradas in the Sabarimala gold theft case, to Friday. The hearing was postponed after the investigation team failed to submit his medical records to the Kollam Principal Sessions Court. Sankaradas is seeking anticipatory bail citing health issues. The prosecution had requested the court to give time to submit the hospital records. Following that, the hearing of the anticipatory bail plea was postponed.

Meantime, the court rejected both bail pleas of Unnikrishnan Potty, the first accused in the Sabarimala gold theft case. The bail pleas were filed in the Dwarapalaka idol and door frames cases. Potty's lawyer argued that he has been in jail for two and a half months and that he should be granted bail. However, the prosecution informed the court that evidence and the stolen items are still being collected and that bail should not be granted. The bail pleas were rejected following that.

The high court had the other day severely criticized the SIT for the delay in arresting Sankaradas, the 11th accused in the Sabarimala gold theft case. Justice A Badaruddin got angry and asked what nonsense saying a person lying in the hospital since the day he was arraigned. His son is SP and that is why had gone to the hospital and said that he disagreed with the actions of the investigating officer. The criticism was while considering the bail pleas of accused A Padmakumar, Govardhan, Murari Babu and others.