Kodanad case: 3 main accused want EPS, Sasikala and others examined

A petition has been filed in the Madras High court seeking permission to question former TN CM Edappadi K Palaniswami, Sasikala and others in the Kodanad estate murder and robbery case. Three accused in the case - Deepu, Satisan and Santosh Samy had filed the plea.

Chennai (Tamil Nadu): A petition has been filed in the Madras High court seeking permission to question former TN CM Edappadi K Palaniswami, Sasikala and others in the Kodanad estate murder and robbery case. Meanwhile, another case has also been filed in the High Court seeking quashing of the Nilgiris District court order denying permission to question former Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, Sasikala, Elavarasi, Sudhakaran, former Nilgiris Collector Shankar and former Nilgiris District Superintendent of Police Murali Ramba.

Deepu, Satisan and Santosh Samy, who were accused in the case, had filed a petition in the Nilgiris Court seeking permission to question former Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, Sasikala, Elavarasi, Sudhakaran, former Nilgiris Collector Shankar and former Nilgiris District SP Murali Ramba, ADMK functionary Sajivan, Kodanad estate manager Natarajan and Sunil. The accused have mentioned in the plea that the case is being reportedly influenced by powerful AIADMK leaders.

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Earlier, the Nilgiris court had allowed only estate manager Natarajan to be tried and dismissed the petition seeking hearing of others. While, Deepu, Satisan and Santosh Samy filed a review petition in the Madras High Court seeking quashing of the order. It said the Nilgiris court had failed to consider the seriousness of the former chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami's involvement in the case, while Sayan, one of the main accused recently raised serious allegations against the latter to the robbery case.

According to the petition, Sasikala and the Elavarasi knew about the missing documents from Kodanad estate in the robbery after Jayalalitha's death and the investigation team did not carry out an open investigation and left the main accused behind. The petition is expected to come up for hearing soon.

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In April 2017, at late TN CM Jayalalithaa's residence in the Nilgiris, Om Bahadur, who works as security at the Kodanad estate bungalow was murdered and several important documents were stolen at midnight. A case was registered at Sholurmattam police station and a chargesheet had been filed in the Nilgiris District Sessions Court in connection with the case and an investigation was launched.

Following the probe, ten people were arrested and a chargesheet was filed. It was also revealed that the late TN CM's chauffeur C Kanagaraj and KV Sayan had conspired the crime. Later after two months, another employee working at the Kodanad estate was found dead in suspicious circumstances. Soon after, the main accused Sayan’s wife and daughter and Kanagaraj were killed in road mishap.