TN SIT accelerates probe into Kodanad heist and murder case

CHENNAI: The Special Investigation Team of Tamil Nadu police investigating the 2017 Kodanad Heist and murder case has accelerated its probe and is zeroing in on more culprits.

Senior officers of the Tamil Nadu police told IANS that the team has found more evidence in connection with the murder of security guard Om Bahadhur on the fateful night of April 23-24. Another security guard at the estate, Krishna Thapa, was grievously injured in the attack.

The 900-acre Kodanad estate was jointly owned by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late J.Jayalalithaa and her aide V.K.Sasikala.

The robbery and murder at the Kodanad estate took place after Sasikala was remanded to Bangaluru central prison on February 15, 2017.

JayaLalitha had passed away on December 5, 2016. Public prosecutor Hassan Mohammed Jinnah on Friday informed the Madras High Court that the SIT investigating the Kodanad Heist and murder case has come up with fresh clues and evidence in the case.

He made this statement while opposing the bail plea of one of the accused, Manoj, claiming that more interrogation of the accused was necessary. On the intervening night of April 23-24 in 2017, the estate witnessed several unsavoury incidents, including the murder of Om Bahadhur, the security guard posted there. Another guard, Krishna Thapa, was also grievously injured in the attack, but he later left India quietly.

Five days after the incident, the former driver of Jayalalithaa, Kanagaraj, who was the first accused in the case, died in a road accident on the Salem-Chennai national highway. On the same day, Sayan, another accused in the case, met with an accident after a truck rammed into the car in which he was traveLling with his family near Palakkad. His wife and daughter died on the spot, while Sayan escaped unhurt.

A few months after these accidents, the accountant of Kodanad estate, Dileep Kumar, was found hanging in his house. In the run-up to the 2021 Assembly elections, the DMK had promised that if it returned to power, the party would reopen the Kodanad case.

There were allegations that Kanagaraj, the key conspirator of the case, was associated with Edappadi K.Palaniswami and that several valuable documents were stolen from the estate during the heist.