The Thiruvananthapuram Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Saturday granted bail to BJP leader and Thiruvananthapuram Corporation councillor V.G. Girikumar who was arrested for allegedly plotting an arson attack on the ashram of Sandeepananda Giri in 2018.
The Crime Branch arrested the BJP leader after finding him to have purportedly conspired with other accomplices to set the ashram on fire in protest against the spiritual leader’s stance in favour of the entry of young women in Sabarimala. He is the fourth accused in the case.
While granting him conditional bail with a surety of ₹50,000, the court ordered him to present himself before the investigation officer on Mondays and Thursdays, and also cautioned him against attempting to intimidate witnesses in the case.
A bail plea submitted by the third accused Sabari S. Nair, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist, was rejected on the grounds that he had other criminal cases pending against him. While the prosecution opposed the bail pleas fearing the progress of the case could be jeopardised by the accused, the defence counsel maintained that the case was politically motivated.
