SALEM: The ‘road accident death’ of key suspect Kanagaraj, soon after burglary and murder at former chief minsiter J Jayalalithaa’s Kodanad estate in 2017, has now been reopened for fresh investigation.
“We have obtained necessary directions from the district court and will initiate inquiry immediately,” Salem district superintendent of police Sri Abhinav told TOI on Thursday. The SP, however, is yet to name an investigation officer.
The former CM’s car driver, Kanagaraj, is alleged to have led the intruders into the estate as he was familiar with the terrain during the intervening night of April 23-24, 2017. Four days later he died after a vehicle hit his two-wheeler at Attur on Salem-Chennai national highway on April 28, 2017.
The Attur police had initiated an inquiry based on the complaint by Kanagaraj’s brother Dhanapal. Police officials, including then Salem range DIG T Senthil Kumar, had concluded that it was a case of death in a road accident and not a planned murder.
Citing Kanagaraj’s postmortem report, the then DIG had said that Kanagaraj had consumed alcohol at the time of the accident. Based on a police probe report, former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami informed the state assembly in July 2017 that there was no foul play in Kanagaraj’s death.
