Jayalalithaa's disowned foster son V.N. Sudhakaran on Wednesday appeared before the Special Investigation Team of the CBCID constituted to investigate into the Kodanad heist and murder case.
This is the first time the SIT is questioning him in the Kodanad heist and murder case. Incidentally, this is Sudhakaran’s first public appearance after he was released from the Parappana Agrahara prison. He was arrested along with his aunt V.K. Sasikala and J. Elavarasi in the disproportionate assets in which Jayalalithaa was A1.
The accused in the Kodanad heist case who were arrested earlier during the AIADMK regime under Edappadi K. Palaniswami had raised suspicion over the involvement of several people, in the Madras High Court. Subsequently, the court had directed the SIT to conduct inquiry on 18 people including Sasikala, former chief minister Palaniswami and others. As part of the investigation, as per court's direction, the SIT's investigation officer Murugavel had issued summons to Sudhakaran on March 25.
According to sources, Sudhakaran was one of the shareholders of the Kodanad estate at one point of time before Jayalalithaa disowned him soon after the grand gala wedding in 1991.
also read
- How is Delhi's Atal Canteen different from Jayalalithaa's Amma Canteen, Siddaramaiah's Indira Canteen and Naidu's Anna Canteen
- Karnataka Court orders the handing over of Jayalalithaa’s movable assets to Tamil Nadu government treasury
- 'Jayalalithaa was a Hindutva leader,' reiterates TN BJP chief Annamalai
- AIADMK fumes at Annamalai’s 'Jaya, a superior Hindutva leader' remark
The special investigation team has held inquiries with more than 200 people, including Sasikala and others in connection with the heist and murder in Kodanad on April 24, 2017.
Om Bahadur Thapa, one of the security guards at gate number 11 at the Kodanad bungalow was murdered by an 11-member gang in the wee hours on April 24, 2017. His colleague Krishna Bahadur was assaulted by the gang. Krishna and Om Bahadur are Nepal nationals.
The investigation in the case has been going on for the past eight years and has not made any headway except several unconfirmed news about former chief minister Palaniswami's alleged involvement in the heist and murder. He has already filed a defamation suit against Dhanapal, the brother of Kanagaraj who was killed in a road accident the next day after the burglary in Kodanad. Kanagaraj was Jayalalithaa's former driver and was the prime accused in the heist and murder.