CHENNAI: Stoutly denying as baseless the allegations made by Mathew Samuel, chief of Narada News based in Delhi, on Friday, regarding the Kodanadu Estate robbery of April, 2017, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday said, “Those who have no guts to face us alone politically have resorted to such shortcuts. I have lodged a complaint with the police on Friday night. Those who are behind this will be brought to light soon.”

Answering queries of reporters at the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai, the chief minister said, “ There is not an even an iota of truth in the allegations made against me. They are baseless and stringent legal action would be taken against those who made them. I have a lodged a police complaint in this regard on Friday and a case has been registered. The police will take further steps in accordance with the law.”

“The 10 persons involved in the crime, that took place at Kodanadu estate on April 24, 2017, were arrested and the trial is going on in the court. The accused have appeared before the court 22 times so far. Without making such allegations before the court, now 'they' are levelling some allegations with a view to diverting the case. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for February 22," he said.

The chief minister said many cases had already been filed against these accused including charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, of impersonation, cheating, theft and acting as mercenaries.

“Mathew has also alleged that Amma (late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa) had obtained some documents from party functionaries and kept them at Kodanadu estate and the accused had gone there to bring those documents. Amma had never obtained any document from any of the functionaries. She treated them as part of her family. As such, this allegation, made with a view of maligning her image, is strongly condemnable,” Palaniswami said.

He said that for the past one and half years, the accused had been appearing before the court but did not make any such allegations then. “Whether there is an effort to dilute the case against the accused or if some persons, who have political animosity against the AIADMK government, are trying to malign its image will be found out,” he added.

Meanwhile, AIADMK IT wing secretary Raj Satyan filed a complaint with the Chennai Cyber Crime Cell about the allegations made by Mathew Samuel.