Two more suspects have been arrested in Kerala in connection with the sensational burglary and murder of a security guard at the sprawling Kodanad Estate belonging to former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. With this, the number of those arrested in the case has gone up to six. While Kanagaraj, a key suspect and Jayalalithaa’s former driver, died in an accident, K.V. Sayan, a suspected co-conspirator, survived a mishap in Kerala. The bodies of Sayan’s wife and daughter were found in the car on Saturday.
According to the Nilgiris district police, two accused – J. Jithin from Malappuram and A Shamsher from Wayanad — were arrested by the Kerala police on Sunday. The two allegedly have criminal cases registered against them in the neighbouring State.
Meanwhile, doctors attending on Sayan at a private hospital in Coimbatore said he was recovering. Dr. T. Sundarrajan, head of the Department of Emergency Medicine at GKNM Hospital, told journalists that Sayan’s condition was stable.
“Treatment is going on. More details on the condition of the patient cannot be disclosed as it is a medico legal case,” he said, adding that a report has been given to the police. According to him, it was not the police who brought Sayan to the hospital; but, he did not divulge anything further.
Sayan, who was working as manager of a bakery chain in Coimbatore, is currently in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital. Tight security has been put in place at the ICU, restricting visitors. A team of Kerala police from Palakkad also visited Sayan at the hospital in connection with the accident that occurred at Kannadi on Palakkad-Thrissur road.
Meanwhile, the four men arrested on Saturday by the Nilgiris district police in connection with the case were brought to the scene of the crime – Kodanad Estate – on Sunday. They were taken to the Kotagiri Police Station at around 4 a.m. After the police recorded their statements, the men were taken to the Kodanad Estate at around 8 a.m. The police quizzed them on the exact sequence of events that took place during the early hours of April 24. The accused were then taken to a court in Coonoor and produced before a judge, who remanded them in judicial custody.
Murali Rambha, Nilgiris District Superintendent of Police, said that the reconstruction of events was standard part of the investigative process. The police were trying to gather more evidence. Police officers added that they were looking into whether more suspects were involved in the case.
