Chennai: On the midnight of 23 April 2017, practically 5 months after Tamil Nadu former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s dying, her summer time retreat, the Kodanad property at Nilgiris’ Kothagiri, grew to become the centre of nationwide consideration when 11 of a gang broke into the practically 900-acre property.
The break-in left a guard useless and one other injured. Within the subsequent few days, three extra individuals linked to the case died. The victims included the principle suspect and the relations of the second suspect.
The case, alleged to have hyperlinks with Tamil Nadu’s ex-CM Edappadi Ok. Palaniswani, has haunted the chief because it occurred.
On Thursday, the Madras HC, in a verdict in a defamation case, ordered the principle suspect’s brother to pay over Rs one crore in compensation to EPS for statements connecting the AIADMK chief with the break-in.
The HC verdict comes as a respite for the opposition chief of the Tamil Nadu meeting amid the continuing Crime Department, Crime Investigation Division (CB-CID) probe into the 2017 case.
On Thursday, the courtroom additionally allowed EPS permission to use to take away from social media all of the defamatory statements in opposition to him made by the principle suspect’s brother, Dhanapal, within the Kodanad case.
In the meantime, Dhanapal has to pay Rs 1,10,00,000 for his statements in opposition to EPS in several interviews.
Furthermore, Justice Teekaa Raman J. issued a everlasting injunction, restraining Dhanapal and anybody related to him from making comparable statements by means of interviews or utilizing another media.
“It’s a sorry state of affairs that within the age of social media, desecration of the repute of public figures has grow to be little one’s play. Anybody can open a social media account and publish messages on the account. 1000’s of likes and dislikes are obtained, nonetheless within the course of, the repute of the person, who’s focused, turns into, sadly, mud (sic),” the courtroom mentioned in its order.
The decision pertains to the 2023 defamation swimsuit filed by EPS in opposition to Dhanapal’s accusations, which linked him with the Kodanad case.
In his plea to the Excessive Court docket, EPS alleged that Dhanapal made a number of statements to completely different media connecting him with the case in an try and tarnish his picture within the public and destabilise AIADMK, particularly within the run-up to the not too long ago concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Dhanapal is the brother of Kanagaraj, Jayalalithaa’s driver and the principle suspect within the case, who died in a highway accident in 2017, days after the break-in.
In interviews with completely different channels, Dhanapal has alleged that EPS and different AIADMK leaders “brainwashed” Kanakaraj to execute the heist, promising a “good life and monetary help”.
Dhanapal has mentioned they promised Kanagaraj Rs 25 crore however didn’t hand it over after the project. He has termed Kanagaraj’s accident as premeditated.
In 2019, an investigative documentary by former Tehelka journalist Samuel Mathew, who interviewed the 2 accused concerned within the case, mentioned that EPS was concerned and staged the heist to retrieve some paperwork from the property—a declare EPS has since dismissed.
The courtroom noticed that Dhanapal’s statements to completely different media have been contrasting and that it was evident that he supposed to deliver EPS disrepute and tarnish his picture.
“The damages that the plaintiff has suffered on account of the tweets/chats of the defendant is obvious however that is without doubt one of the unavoidable pitfalls of entry to social media platforms and the way they work by those that abuse their facility, because the defendant has within the current case to take action (sic),” the choose noticed.
EPS has not responded to calls or messages on this regard.
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Drama after midnight heist
The occasions surrounding the heist have been extra dramatic than the heist itself. After coming into the property, the gang attacked guard Krishna Thapa and stole his cellphone. Later, they attacked a watchman and tied a dhoti across the neck of Om Bahadur, who was guarding Gate 10, resulting in his dying.
Inside days, the probe pointed in the direction of the involvement of Kanagaraj, a former driver on the property. A local of Salem district’s Edappadi, the place EPS was born, Kanagaraj, it was mentioned, plotted the heist along with his buddy Ok.V. Sayan, a Coimbatore resident heading the gang concerned within the break-in.
The opposite accused within the case have been all from neighbouring Kerala.
In response to the chargesheet filed by the police in September 2017, Kanagaraj, who knew in regards to the bungalow, believed that Rs 200 crore was saved inside, prompting him to tie up with Sayan. The gang, nonetheless, couldn’t discover any cash and solely acquired ten wristwatches and a crystal rhinoceros doll value Rs 42,000, the chargesheet mentioned.
Amid the manhunt for the accused, Sayan and Kanagaraj acquired into separate accidents. Kanagaraj died on the spot in an accident on the Salem-Chennai nationwide freeway on 28 April 2017. Sayan met with an accident close to Palakkad in Kerala whereas travelling along with his household. Sayan managed to outlive however misplaced his spouse and five-year-old daughter. Two months after the break-in, a 24-year-old employees on the laptop part of the property died by suicide.
The trial of the case remains to be underway on the Niligiri District cum Chief Judicial Justice of the Peace Court docket.
The investigation, accomplished when the AIADMK authorities was in energy, has raised many suspicions.
The deposition from the investigation officer, Balasundaram, revealed that pictures and movies weren’t taken, and a list of the property within the property was not made. The police additionally did not probe the accidents involving the accused whereas the only real eyewitness, Thapa, was allowed to return to his hometown in Nepal. The FIR didn’t even have his signature, and his present whereabouts stay unknown.
“The police purposefully made many errors through the probe. They needed to examine the case because it occurred on Jayalalithaa’s property,” a lawyer representing the accused informed ThePrint. He mentioned the prosecution distributed 62 witnesses with out examination.
In 2019, EPS filed a defamation case in opposition to Samuel and the 2 accused, Sayan and Manoj, featured in his 2019 documentary. The case remains to be pending earlier than the Excessive Court docket.
Within the run-up to the 2021 meeting polls, M.Ok. Stalin promised a good probe into the case. Months after the DMK got here to energy, the Madras Excessive Court docket allowed the state police to start out investigations. In 2022, the case was transferred to the CB-CID to expedite the probe, which remains to be underway.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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