Overview
- On February 18, the Kollam Vigilance Court granted conditional bail to Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru in both the Dwarapalaka and sanctum doorframe cases after 41 days in custody.
- The court said there was not even an iota of evidence directly linking him to misappropriation, noting his ritual-only role and his absence from key 2019 mahazars cited in the conspiracy claim.
- Bail terms require two sureties, surrender of passport, a ban on leaving Kerala or entering Pathanamthitta district, and twice-weekly appearances before investigators.
- The SIT had argued he was close to prime accused Unnikrishnan Potti and pointed to deposits of ₹2.05 crore in his name and ₹62 lakh in his wife’s, but the judge found no prima facie link at this stage.
- On February 20, former TDB president A. Padmakumar received statutory bail in the doorframe case after the SIT missed the 90-day chargesheet deadline, though he remains jailed in the Dwarapalaka case as courts and political figures question the probe and the SIT targets filings by March 31.