AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday demanded that the ruling DMK regime hand over the investigation into the 2017 Kodanad heist cum murder case to the CBI.
When asked about an editorial in DMK’s mouthpiece ‘Murasoli’ on August 30, that slammed him over the Kodanad case, Palaniswami told reporters here, “They are deliberately spreading defamatory claims on the case.” Already he has filed a defamation case against a person for allegedly making libelous remarks and it is pending in court.
The AIADMK chief asserted that swift action was taken by the AIADMK regime (2016-2021) in the Kodanad case and the culprits were arrested and jailed. During the trial in the court, lawyers “belonging to the DMK” appeared for the accused, he claimed.
Also, those “belonging to the DMK” stood surety for the accused in the bail bond executed by them, which according to the former chief minister raised “doubts.” He demanded to know about the “nexus” between the accused and such “DMK” men.
Palaniswami alleged that the accused faced several other serious criminal cases in Kerala, their home state.
He wondered why the case should not be transferred to the CBI and asked the DMK regime to do so. “You (DMK regime) say that there are suspicions. Hand over the case to the CBI.” The AIADMK top leader said that at a time when only final argument was awaited and when judgment was expected after completion of arguments, the coronavirus pandemic surfaced in 2020 leading to a delay.
After the DMK assumed power in May 2021, the matter was taken up afresh again by a police team led by a senior police official of the rank of Inspector General, and though they again completed “90 per cent” work, the matter went to the CB-CID.
Since the AIADMK could not be faulted in respect of the investigation taken up during its regime, the ruling party is making defamtory claims out of “political vendetta”, he said.
The heist-cum-murder in Kodanad in the Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu happened in a bungalow that was used on and off by late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa as a camp office-cum-residence. The former AIADMK supremo died in December 2016.
On April 23, 2017, a security guard of the bungalow, Om Bahadur, was murdered and another guard was severely assaulted by a gang. Deaths following the crime — including that of a suspect, Kanagaraj, a former car driver of Jayalalithaa, and another person who was a staffer of the Kodanad Estate — had been pointed out by the DMK as being suspicious, besides other related aspects.
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