Chennai, Sep 30 (IANS): Tamil Nadu Director General of Police C. Sylendrababu has transferred the Kodanad murder-cum-heist case to the Crime Branch-CID, the elite investigation department of the state police.

Kodanad estate, the property jointly owned by late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa, and her aide, V.K. Sasikala was in news after an armed gang barged into it and killed security guard, Om Bahadhur, and grievously injured another guard, Krishna Thapa. The incident occurred between the night of April 23, 2017, and the early morning of April 24. The robbers decamped with a few watches from the estate bungalow.

Four days after the murder and heist, the main accused in the case, Kanagarajan who was the driver of Jayalalithaa, was killed on the Salem-Chennai highway. On the same day, another accused Sayan met with an accident at Palakkad when a truck rammed into his car when he was travelling with his family including his wife and daughter. While his wife and daughter were instantly killed, Sayan escaped with minor injuries.

A few months after these incidents, Dileep Kumar, the computer operator of the estate bungalow, committed suicide at his residence.

The DMK had during its election campaign announced that it would bring to light the real facts behind the Kodanad estate murder and subsequent deaths. After assuming office in May 2021, Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin announced the reopening of the case, and an investigation was being carried out with a special team of the state police interrogating new suspects.

The sudden transfer of the case to the CB-CID is considered a major move by the DMK government to conduct a proper investigation in the infamous case.