Kodanad case: Intimation memo filed in sessions court

CHENNAI: The special public prosecutor for the Tamil Nadu government in the Kodanad heist-cum-murder case on Friday filed an intimation memo before Udhagamandalam district sessions judge P. Murugan, informing that the case has been taken over by the CB-CID (Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department).

It may be noted that after the case was handed over to the CB-CID, the DGP of the elite wing, Mohammed Shakeel Akthar, conducted an investigation at the Kodanad estate on October 26 and questioned the estate management.

Advocate K. Vijayan, representing the 10 accused in the case, said that the defence had appealed to the judge to pass orders to provide a copy of the intimation memo filed by the prosecution. The lawyer also said that two of the accused, Sayan and Walayar Manoj, were present in the court for the hearing.

It may be noted that an armed gang had broken into the Kodanad estate jointly owned by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late J. Jayalalithaa and her aide V.K. Sasikala in April 2017. The gang led by the former driver of Jayalalithaa, Kanagaraj, had entered the estate at midnight and killed the security guard, Om Bahadhur. Another guard, Krishna Thapa, was grievously injured and the gang, according to the police, had decamped with a few costly watches.

Five days after the incident, Kanagaraj was killed in a road accident on the Salem-Chennai national highway. On the same day, another truck hit the car in which Sayan, another accused, and his family members were traveling in Palakkad, Kerala. Sayan's wife and daughter died on the spot, while Sayan escaped unhurt.

A computer operator of the Kodanad estate, Dinesh Kumar, committed suicide at his residence a few months later. The DMK had promised that if elected to power, it will launch a fresh probe into the Kodanad heist-cum-murder case.