The murky heist-cum-murder case at Jayalalithaa’s Kodanad estate is back in the limelight

Many believed that the initial investigation — conducted under the previous AIADMK government with Edappadi K Palanisamy (EPS) was the chief minister — was shoddy, especially given the murky nature of the case, and some stunning allegations levelled by the two accused about EPS’ own role in the crime.

The bunglow at the Kodanad tea estate, where the crime took place. (Supplied)

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was set up to further probe the Kodanad case after the DMK assumed power. Though over 200 persons were examined, including VK Sasikala, who jointly owned the Kodanad bungalow with Jayalalithaa, and a few others arrested, the SIT was unable to make any serious headway in the past one year.

The move to transfer the investigation to the CB-CID comes just few days after the Madras High Court asked the police to expedite the probe and file an additional final report in the lower court as soon as possible.

The crime explained

According to the FIR in the case, the crime was committed at the sprawling 800-acre Kodanadu tea estate, often described as Jayalalithaa’s summer retreat, between midnight and 2 am on 24 April, 2017, by a 11-member gang which broke into the bungalow to allegedly steal money to the tune of ₹200 crore that they believed to be in the bunglow, and other valuables.

The accused in the case are: Kanagaraj (main accused, deceased), a former driver of Jayalalithaa, KV Sayan, Walayar Manoj, D Deepu, Jamsheer Ali, S Satheesan, Bijin Kutty, Udhayakumar, Santosh Samy, Manoj Samy and Jithin Joy.

Accused in the case: Sayan and Kanagaraj. (Supplied)

While breaking-in, the gang allegedly attacked a guard named Krishna Dhaba. He was tied up with a coir rope and an injury was inflicted to his right thumb. His phone was also allegedly stolen by the accused.

As they proceeded towards the bungalow, they ran into another watchman at Gate No. 10, Om Bahadur, who worked at the tea estate. He was brutally thrashed by the gang. The chargesheet stated that apart from the indiscriminate thrashing, Om Bahadur’s mouth was gagged and a dhoti was tightly tied around his neck. The gang then hung him upside down on a casuarina tree which led to his death due to asphyxiation.

A minor theft?

Apart from the murder, as per the chargesheet, the gang stole 10 wrist watches and a crystal rhinoceros doll worth ₹42,000 from the bungalow.

Picture of the wrist watches and crystal rhinocerous which were stolen from Jayalalithaa’s Kodanad estate.

“…While accused A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5 went inside three rooms of the bungalow, searched for money and valuables, to their shock and dismay, they did not find any currency notes but only 10 wrist watches and a crystal rhinocerous doll worth about ₹42,000 in all,” the chargesheet read.

This is a claim that many believe is untrue.

For instance, a lawyer of the accused who spoke to South First alleged that the accused were asked to retrieve “important documents” from the summer retreat of the late chief minister. Sources close to Sasikala, who was lodged in the Bengaluru central prison at the time of the crime, also hinted at the same.

When the SIT started investigating the case after 2021, they added two new suspects: Kanagaraj’s brother Dhanapal and relative Ramesh for allegedly destroying evidence.

All things murky

What makes the case so sensational is the murky details of the crime — as well as the strange things that have happened subsequent to it.

For example, four days after the crime, the main accused in the case, Kanagaraj, was killed in a road accident on 28 April, 2017, on the Salem-Chennai national highway. The police were on the lookout for him that day.

Adding to the mystery, the very same day Kanagaraj died, another main accused Sayan, along with his family members, also met with an accident. Sayan lost his wife and child in the road accident.

Picture of accused Sayan’s car that met with an accident in Kerala. (Supplied)

Similarly, Dinesh Kumar, a member of the staff at the Kodanadu estate’s computer section, died by suicide on 3 July, 2017, just months after the murder-cum-heist took place at the bunglow.

In a major twist, in 2019, the name of the former chief minister EPS cropped up in connection with the case.

In a sting operation conducted by former Narada News editor Mathew Samuel, one of the accused, Sayan, alleged that EPS was behind the robbery attempt and the subsequent events, as he wanted to retrieve some important documents from the estate.

However, EPS rejected the allegations, dismissing them as baseless. He also filed a defamation case against Samuel.

What is also significant is that Kanagaraj hailed from Edappadi in Salem district, EPS’ native place.

Further, the investigating officer in the case, during his deposition and cross-examination, stated that there were no CCTV cameras at the tea estate bungalow.

It is worth noting that the bungalow was no ordinary place, but one frequently visited by former chief minister Jayalalithaa, Sasikala, AIADMK leaders, bureaucrats and others. It turned into the Chief Minister’s Office every time Jayalalithaa visited the place.

The entire issue turned into a huge political controversy at the time when the then Opposition leader MK Stalin demanded the resignation of EPS, and urged the Governor to order an SIT probe into the matter.

A shoddy probe

Lawyers of some of the accused in the case, and even political observers in the state, believe that the initial probe in the Kodanad case, which was carried out when the AIADMK was in power, was done in a shoddy manner.

Speaking to South First, a lawyer of the accused said that many angles, including the alleged role of EPS in the conspiracy, was not even investigated by the police. He also alleged that the cops buried or destroyed several key pieces of evidence pertaining to the case.

What became clear from the deposition and cross-examination of the investigating officer was that there were several lapses even in the preliminary investigation.

To begin with, the investigating officer visited the crime spot seven hours after the heist-cum-murder was committed. Once again, it is worth noting that the location of the crime was no ordinary place, but the bungalow of the AIADMK supremo and the late chief minister of the state.

In his cross-examination, the investigating officer also said that though he examined the two rooms that were broken into in the bungalow, no record of it was created.

Likewise, photos of Jayalalithaa’s and Sasikala’s rooms, which were broken into, were not taken. No Mahasar, or spot map, was created of the hall and rooms that the gang entered during the heist. Also, forensic evidence was not collected from the hall and the two rooms on the first floor.

Importantly, the investigating officer said that no inventory was made of the things and valuables that existed in the bungalow.

The officer did not investigate the death of prime accused Kanagaraj in the road accident. When asked if the political angle was probed, he said it was done in a general manner, but not particularly.

Political showdown

The case, shrouded as it was in mystery, was used by the DMK when they were in Opposition to mount pressure on the ruling AIADMK. During the 2021 Assembly election campaign, Stalin on multiple occasions stated that the truth behind the Kodanad case would come out once the DMK came to power.

Accordingly, after the party won the elections, the Nilgiris police decided to re-investigate the case citing new leads.

The issue was taken up in the assembly by the AIADMK in August 2021, where EPS and others alleged that the decision to re-open the case was born out of political vendetta and that the DMK wanted to falsely implicate EPS in the case. The AIADMK members even staged a walkout from the Assembly and staged a protest.

Many political observers in the state claim that the reason why EPS is allegedly going “soft” on the DMK government on various issues is because of the Kodanad case hanging like a sword above his head.