Sabarimala gold theft: Former Travancore Devaswom president A. Padmakumar gets statutory bail in one case

A court in Kollam on Friday (February 20, 2026) granted statutory bail to former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president and CPI(M) leader A. Padmakumar in one of the cases related to the Sabarimala gold loss incident.

Kollam Vigilance Court Judge Mohit C.S. granted bail to Mr. Padmakumar in the case pertaining to the alleged loss of gold from the doorframes of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum), after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) failed to file the chargesheet within 90 days of his arrest.

However, Mr. Padmakumar will not be released from jail as he is yet to obtain bail in the case related to the alleged loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) plates.

Mr. Padmakumar, the eighth accused in the Sreekovil doorframe case, is a former CPI(M) MLA and had served as TDB president when the decision was taken to hand over Sabarimala artefacts for re-plating to prime accused Unnikrishnan Potti in 2019.

Recently, the SIT had informed the Kerala High Court that the chargesheets in the two cases would be filed before March 31.

Mr. Padmakumar, who is the 11th accused in the Dwarapalaka gold loss case, will be eligible for statutory bail in the next two weeks, police sources said.