Two booked by Tamil Nadu cops for appearing in Kodanadu estate documentary granted bail

CHENNAI: Two men booked by Tamil Nadu police for featuring in a documentary by former Tehelka Editor Mathew Samuel in connection with the robbery and murder of a security guard in J Jayalalithaa's Kodanadu estate, have been granted bail by Egmore magistrate court on Friday. The court directed V K Sayan, and Valayar Manoj, to furnish a surety bond on the same day and refused to grant them further time.

The two men, who were accused in the murder and were out of prison on bail, were arrested in Delhi on January 13th by a special team from Chennai city police. They were booked on charges of causing hatred between people by their statements in the documentary about a series of deaths in Kodanadu Estate after Jayalalithaa's demise.

They also allegedly linked Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami to the break-in in the video documentary, which he denied. AIADMK leader M Thambidurai on Thursday said the allegations made against Palaniswami was 'a drama scripted by some enemies'.

READ HERE | Kodanadu Estate case: EPS says all allegations baseless

The magistrate court refused to remand the two men in judicial custody when they were produced before it on Monday. The court had observed that there was no prima facie evidence for charges against the two. The judge had asked them to appear before the court on January 18 and furnish surety bond for Rs 10,000.

When they appeared before judge Malarvizhi on Friday, their counsel sought more time to furnish the bonds. The court refused to entertain the pleas and directed them to complete the necessary procedure by 5.45 pm. 

The counsel of the two accused argued that the order of the vacation judge on Sunday was not clear and also since the courts were on holidays due to Pongal festival, they were unable to furnish the bonds immediately. 

It seems no one got the details of FIR wrt Kodanadu mystery in which 2 alleged accused are arrested. Here are the details. pic.twitter.com/tbPlnsrpKt

— Savukku_Shankar (@savukku) January 18, 2019

Former Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa’s 800-acre tea estate in Kodanadu saw a break-in and murder four months after her death. The estate guard, Om Bahadur, was murdered and another guard Krishna Bahadur Thapa assaulted on April 23, when a group of men barged into the Kodanadu estate.

After the security guard's murder, Kanagaraj, Jayalalithaa’s former driver lost his life in a car accident. On the same day, Sayan and his family also met with a car accident. Sayan survived but lost his wife and daughter. In July that year, Dinesh Kumar, who was a CCTV operator at the estate allegedly killed himself.

(With inputs from online desk)