Kodanad break-in was for cash, says SP

Crime was hatched by Jaya’s ex-driver Kanagaraj; accomplices known to Sayan

C. Kanagaraj

The main motive behind the Kodanad murder was looting of cash, Nilgiris SP Murali Rambha has said.

He told presspersons in Udhagamandalam on Saturday that special teams of the Nilgiris police had arrested four people on Saturday.

Mr. Rambha said C. Kanagaraj (35), who had worked as driver at Poes Garden from 2008 to 2013, conspired to carry out the dacoity with 10 others. He was the first accused and one Sayan the second. The four accused arrested from Kerala on Saturday are Santhosh Sami (39), Deepu (32), Udhayakumar (47), and Satheesan (42), all of Thrissur and known to Sayan.

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“It has been revealed that the accused planned the dacoity on the information provided by Kanagaraj about alleged availability of huge volume of cash in the bungalow and absence of CCTV cameras and dogs. Some of them came to Ooty a few days before the incident, whereas others came on April 23,” an official statement said.

The probe team said the gang assaulted security guard Krishna Thapa and tied him in a lorry near Gate-8 of the bungalow. Later they killed security guard Ohm Bahadur at Gate-10. Later the gang broke open a window and opened the doors of three rooms, including those used by Jayalalithaa and V.K. Sasikala.

The police said the gang could not find cash but took away five watches and a crystal showpiece.

On arresting the four men, the police recovered the crystal showpiece, while the watches are said to be thrown into a river in Kerala.