Kottayam former TDB administrative officer Murari Babu, an accused in the cases related to the alleged loss of gold from the Sabarimala temple, died at a private hospital in Kochi, family sources said on Saturday.
He was 54 years old and had been undergoing treatment for cancer for the past three months. They said that he breathed his last at Amrita Hospital on Friday evening.
Murari Babu was arrested last year in connection with cases related to the alleged loss of gold from Dwarapalaka idol panels and Sreekovil door frames at the hill shrine while he was serving as an official of the Travancore Devaswom Board.
The Kollam Vigilance Court had on January 23 granted him bail in the two cases, 90 days after his arrest and the Special Investigation Team failed to file chargesheets.
Babu was the second accused in the case related to the alleged loss of gold from the slabs of Dwarapalaka idol and the sixth accused in the case related to the alleged loss of gold from the gate structures of Sreekovil.
He was arrested in October last year on the charge that when the main accused, Unnikrishnan Bute, suggested electroplating the Dwarapalaka statues and door frames of Srikovil, Babu sent the proposal to the Travancore Devaswom Board.
He was booked on conspiracy charges related to the alleged gold loss.
At the time of his arrest, Babu was serving as Deputy Commissioner of Devaswom in Haripad and was subsequently suspended from duty after the incident came to light.
A former police officer, Babu joined the Kerala Police in 1994 and underwent initial training in Kannur. However, he later left the force and joined the Travancore Devaswom Board in 1997.
He was later appointed as a clerk in the Ettumanoor temple and later worked in various capacities under the Devaswom Council.
Babu also worked as special in-charge of temple festivals at Vaikom, Ettumanoor and Thirunakkara temples, TDB sources added.
This article was generated from an automated news feed without any modifications to the text.
