A Vigilance court in Kollam has granted the Special Investigation Team (SIT) one-day custody of Kandararu Rajeevaru, the senior Tantri of Sabarimala. The custody is part of the probe into the temple gold theft case. The SIT questioned him mainly to understand his dealings with the first accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, and others involved. After a day-long interrogation, Rajeevaru was brought back to court in the evening and placed under judicial custody. His bail application will be considered by the Vigilance court on January 28. Meanwhile, the court finished hearing bail petitions filed by former administrative officer B. Murari Babu, who remains in remand. A verdict on these petitions is expected on Friday. Babu has applied for statutory bail after spending 90 days in custody in two cases. Earlier, Unnikrishnan Potti was granted statutory bail with strict conditions, as the SIT failed to file a chargesheet within 90 days. If Babu is granted bail, he will be the first accused in the gold theft case to be released from custody. In another development, the SIT submitted a detailed report to the Vigilance court about inspections at Sabarimala, done with High Court permission. The report included metal samples taken from old temple doors and a hard disk seized from the executive officer’s office. These items have been presented for forensic and expert analysis.