Chennai: With a number of conspiracy theories regarding the Kodanad estate robbery doing the rounds, including the latest one saying that some AIADMK ministers were the brains behind the break-in to retrieve certain property documents on which their signatures were forcibly taken when Sasikala was in control of Veda Nilayam in Poes Garden, police may be finding it difficult to conduct an unbiased probe without political intervention.
It is not yet clear if a gang entered the estate on its own will or other powerful people were behind the crime.
A senior police officer revealed that AIADMK interim general secretary VK Sasikala, currently serving jail term in a Bengaluru prison, is the only person who can throw some light on the things that may be missing from the rooms broken into after a guard was murdered on the night of April 23.
"It will be ideal if a probe team can get in touch with Sasikala in connection with the investigation into the murder of a guard and the robbery at Jaya's bungalow in Kodanad. Sasikala is only other person who will be able tell the police about the things missing from Kodanad Estate," the police officer, who did not wish to be named, said. However, he also added that it is doubtful the TN probe team could put forward such a suggestion. If Central agencies are involved in the investigation they could easily do it, he concluded.
Right now the police team, probing the case, is not able to ascertain the things (cash, articles or documents) missing from the bungalow and whether three suitcases were found open and contents missing from the crime scene. The police claimed only some wristwatches and crystal pieces were missing. The mystery has only deepened since two of the suspects, one of them a former driver of Jayalalithaa, met with accidents in separate incidents on the same day and one died on Friday night.
The police say an 11-member gang headed by Jayalalithaa's former driver Kanagaraj in three vehicles reached the estate April 23 night to loot the 'money stashed there'. They gained entry after attacking two guards, - one of them died - and stole atleast some watches and crystals. They entered into three rooms and they could find what they were looking for. Except Kanagaraj, all others hail from Kerala.
After committing the crime the gang split into three directions. Kanagaraj came to Chennai and later went back to his village in Edapadi, Salem. He was killed after he was knocked down from a bike by a car, belonging to a techie working in Bengaluru, on Friday night. Hours after that, Sayan, another suspect, a native of Trisoor, Kerala was seriously injured and his wife and daughter were killed, when the car in which they were travelling crashed against a stationary truck in Kannady, Palakkad, Kerala on Saturday early morning.
Though Initial report says that Sayan's wife and daughter had injuries on their neck indicating he could have killed the two and smashed his vehicle onto a truck fearing police action, Kerala police later said those injuries could be from impact of the accident also. Sayan was travelling from Coimbatore, where he worked as a bakery manager, to his native place, most probably because he was aware of the fact that police was after him.
Police said that Sayan came in contact with Kanagaraj in Kodanad estate where he worked with one woodwork expert Sajevan, who had access to every inch of Kodanad bungalow of former late CM few years back. As an assistant of Sajevan, Sayan too had a good knowledge of lay-out of the bungalow. "Sayan and Kanagaraj used to spend free time together at the estate and became buddies. After the death of Jayalalithaa they believed that there could be huge stash of money in the bungalow and readied a team to execute the loot," a police officer revealed.
Police, on Saturday, arrested 4 persons namely Santhosh Swamy (39), Sathisan (42), Deepu (32) and Udayakumar (47) from Thrisoor and are on the lookout for another five men. Another two identified as Jithin Rai and Jamshed were nabbed by the police on Sunday. Police are on the lookout for three others including Manoj and Kutty alias Jithin. Police believe that Manoj is a hawala operator from Thrisoor who arranged the squad on the request from Sayan.
