Tamil Nadu police makes fresh arrests in Kodanad case

In the first arrests after the Kodanad Estate break-in-cum-murder case was reopened, the Tamil Nadu Police on Monday night picked up the brother and cousin of Kanagaraj, the late driver of late J Jayalalithaa and the alleged main accused in the case.

Police arrested Dhanapal and Ramesh, brother, and cousin of Kanagaraj respectively, on Monday evening and produced them before a judicial magistrate. They were arrested on the charges of destruction of evidence.

This is the first time that the Nilgiris District Police is recording arrests after it reopened the sensational case a few months ago.

Kanagaraj, who was one of the personal drivers of late Jayalalithaa, died in an accident days after he along with an armed gang broke into the palatial bungalow of the former Chief Minister in Kodanad in the Nilgiris, resulting in the murder of a security guard.

The case attained political spotlight after the then Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s name cropped up during investigation. Sources said Dhanapal and Ramesh were picked up by the Sholurmattam police which is investigating the case.

Political parties like DMK have been alleging that investigations into the Kodanad case were not done properly under the then AIADMK regime. The Nilgiris police reopened the case after DMK came to power prompting Palaniswami to allege that the ruling party was trying to “frame me” in the case.

Kodanad was the summer retreat of Jayalalithaa since she and her long-time aide V K Sasikala bought the sprawling bungalow in Kothagiri in early 1990s. The former chief minister would visit the bungalow often when her party, AIADMK, was occupying the Opposition benches in the Assembly.

In April 2017, five months after Jayalalithaa’s death, the bungalow was in the news yet again. A group of men, allegedly led by Jayalalithaa’s driver Kanagaraj, entered the premises forcibly after killing a security guard and grievously injuring another to rob off “valuables.”

The break-in sent shock waves across Tamil Nadu as Jayalalithaa’s favourite bungalow was attacked under AIADMK rule. The incidents that followed – death of Kanagaraj and wife and daughter of one of the prime accused Sayan in separate road accidents and suspected suicide of a staff of the estate – deepened the mystery.

The name of the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami cropped up in the case. However, there was no concrete evidence to establish any link between Palaniswami and the case. AIADMK also faced criticism that the party did not try to bring out the truth behind the break-in at Kodanad despite being in power.

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