Bring perpetrators of Kodanad break-in-cum-murder to justice: Sasikala

Calling the Kodanad bungalow in the Nilgiris a “temple” for her, ousted AIADMK interim general secretary V K Sasikala on Friday demanded that those responsible for the heist at the summer retreat of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and murder of the guard be brought to justice.

Sasikala, who was questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nilgiris police in connection with the sensational on Thursday and Friday, said in a statement that apart from the guard, a child, and her mother – wife and daughter of the main accused Sayan – met with a mysterious accident after the break-in.

“I have answered all the questions that the police posed to me. I have extended my full cooperation. Kodanad Estate may be an ordinary place for many, but for us, it was a place that ensured inner peace for my akka (Jayalalithaa). She liked to be there. For us, we always saw Kodanad Estate as a temple,” she said in the statement.

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The ”unsavoury” incident at the estate took place, Sasikala said, when she was at the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru serving a four-year jail term in a disproportionate assets (DA) case. “Om Bahadur, who worked as a guard with us for a long time, was murdered during the break-in. Not just that. People involved in the case died one by one under mysterious circumstances. A child and her mother also died,” she said.

Sasikala said police should probe the incident and bring the perpetrators, whoever it is, to justice.

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

After the break-in in April 2017, the AIADMK government had said that robbery was the motive behind burglars striking the bungalow and that a few watches and other articles that were stolen were recovered. However, the DMK, which suspects a larger conspiracy, reopened the 2017 case last year by re-examine the key accused, Sayan.

Sayan and nine others are accused of breaking into the sprawling mansion owned by Jayalalithaa in 2017, months after her death, and killing a guard who was posted there. Police had then alleged that C Kanagaraj, Jayalalithaa’s former driver, and Sayan plotted the crime.

However, Kanagaraj, Sayan’s wife and their daughter died in separate road accidents, raising doubts. An “independent investigation” conducted by journalist Mathew Samuel alleged that Palaniswami was behind the break-in, but the former Chief Minister had steered clear of the issue, saying vested interests were trying to bring “disrepute” to him and Jayalalithaa.

Nestled amidst lush tea gardens, the luxurious estate with a magnificent white bungalow and a private lake in Kothagiri was Jayalalithaa’s favourite summer retreat for over two decades.

The sprawling estate is now under the control of the Income Tax Department which has attached the property under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act. The property was jointly owned by Jayalalithaa, her long-time aide V K Sasikala and a few of her relatives.

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