Kodanad Estate heist, murder returns to haunt AIADMK leadership

The Kodanad Estate murder and burglary case continues to haunt the AIADMK even after four years. The renewed investigation gained fresh momentum with the police grilling the prime accused in the case, Sayan of Kerala, for three hours on Tuesday. The estate was Jayalalithaa's favourite, where she used to frequent for vacation and the case pertains to the murder of the security guard and looting of valuables in this estate in March 2017. Initially, police arrested 10 accused including Sayan. One of the absconders, Kanagaraj, driver of Jayalalithaa, died in a road accident near Salem. Rumours were flying thick that top AIADMK leaders were linked to the dacoity to secure prized documents from the estate bungalow. The issue had its echo in the assembly on Wednesday and the AIADMK staged a walkout charging the government of engaging in a witch hunt and implicating the party leadership, writes MC Rajan.

Chennai: With the mystery deepening and the police launching a further fresh investigation into the sensational Kodanad estate heist, the opposition AIADMK has started crying foul. A day after the prime accused in the daring robbery, Sayan, was grilled by the Nilgiris district police, former Chief Minister and leader of the opposition in the Assembly Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) led his party colleagues to stage a walkout in the assembly in protest on Wednesday.

“It is a conspiracy to implicate me in the case. At a time when the trial is expected to conclude, there are media reports that a fresh investigation has been launched by summoning Sayan, who was questioned in secrecy to secure a confession. This is being done with the ulterior motive of implicating me and other AIADMK leaders in the case to gain political mileage. Under the previous AIADMK government, the investigation was over and with the cross-examination of important witnesses, the trial is nearing its end. Reopening it at this stage smells of a political conspiracy,” EPS fumed before the media after a walk-out from the House. The AIADMK legislators also staged a dharna for a brief while.

Earlier, the AIADMK members had come to the house sporting black badges. When EPS tried to raise the issue, Speaker M Appavu refused permission.

Chief Minister MK Stalin said further investigation is being carried out by securing necessary orders from the court. “This is a poll pledge of the DMK to bring out the truth and punish the guilty. The midnight heist and murder as well as the subsequent suspicious deaths of some of the accused have created a doubt in the minds of the public at large. There is no political vendetta and no political interference. Based on the investigation, the culprits would be brought to book,” he said.

Outside the Assembly, EPS alleged that people who stood surety for the accused to get bail were DMK men and the DMK lawyers had appeared for the accused. “After the DMK came to power, those lawyers have been appointed as government advocates. Even the accused have not sought a re-investigation and a petition in this respect, under the instigation of the DMK, was nixed by the Supreme Court. The High Court, too, had set a deadline for concluding the trial,” EPS said to buttress his charge.

Owned by Jayalalithaa and her confidant VK Sasikala, the sprawling 800-acre estate had also served as the then AIADMK supremo's summer camp with all the paraphernalia for a Chief Minister's Office, reviving memories of the colonial era. Even when she was out of office, Jayalalithaa chose to spend time in the cool environs of the Nilgiris at the palatial bungalow.

Close on the heels of the heist and murder of security guard Om Bhadur at Kodanad, the police nabbed 10 people, including Sayan and Manoj of Valayar. Kanakaraj, a suspect who was absconding, met with a fatal accident near Salem in April 2017. Dinesh, a computer operator at the estate, committed suicide. The other accused in the case are out on bail.

In a related development, former Tehelka journalist Mathew Samuel released an investigative video in which two of the accused alleged that EPS was behind the heist, which has been stoutly denied by the latter.