Kodanad dacoity-cum-murder | CB-CID Special Investigation Team questions trader P.B. Sajeevan

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Crime Branch CID (CB-CID), which is investigating the dacoity-cum-murder at the estate bungalow of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at Kodanad in the Nilgiris in 2017, questioned trader P.B. Sajeevan in Coimbatore on Thursday.

Sajeevan, who was associated with the traders wing of the AIADMK, was summoned to the CB-CID office in Coimbatore on Thursday. The SIT questioned him for six hours from 11 a.m.

A native of Chalakkudi in Kerala, Sajeevan is a resident of Konavaikkalpalayam in Coimbatore and runs furniture shops in Coimbatore and Gudalur in the Nilgiris. He was taking care of 90% furniture work and refurbishing of wooden articles at the 900-acre Kodanad estate, the factory and bungalow from 2009.

Sajeevan was in Dubai when an 11-member gang gained entry into the bungalow on the intervening night of April 23 and 24 of 2017, after gunning down security guard Om Bahadur. As per his claim, he had left for Dubai on April 20, 2017 and returned after 10 days. The SIT will examine his passport, which had been surrendered before a court in the Nilgiris, to verify his statement, said a source.

Sources said that former driver of Jayalalithaa, namely C. Kanagaraj of Attur in Salem district, met Sajeevan in 2015 after he was removed from the post and sought the trader’s help to secure the job back. Kanagaraj, first accused in the dacoity-cum-murder, was killed in a road accident near Attur on April 28, 2017.

The SIT will also investigate whether Sajeevan’s two brothers had links with the accused in the crime. The special team of the police, which handled the case before the SIT, had questioned the two brothers, P.B. Sibi and P.B. Sunil.

The SIT is also pursuing to trace the origin of calls from a seven digit number to the mobile numbers of Kanagaraj and second accused K.V. Sayan of Irinjalakuda near Thrissur after the occurrence of the crime. Sayan suffered serious injuries in an accident on Palakkad – Thrissur road on April 29, 2017 that claimed the lives of his wife and daughter.

Published - November 28, 2024 09:48 pm IST