One of the prime accused in the Kodanad-heist-cum-murder case, “Walayar” Manoj, has filed a petition before the district sessions court in Udhagamandalam seeking to be taken back to prison, claiming he was finding it difficult to fulfill his bail conditions.
His advocate, M.Munirathnam said that Manoj, accused number 2 in the case, had been out on bail since November 25. Manoj had been granted conditional bail in July 2021. However, as he could not fulfill the bail conditions, Mr. Munirathnam had approached the court seeking relaxations of the conditions, which was granted in November. District judge-cum-Chief judicial magistrate, Udhagamandalam, C.SanjaiBaba had relaxed the bail conditions and asked Mr.Manoj to sign in the court register every Monday and was instructed to not leave Udhagamandalam.
“However, as he’s not able to leave Udhagamandalam, he is unable to work or even find a place to stay as the hotels and guesthouses are reluctant to let out rooms to a person who is accused in such a high-profile case,” said Mr. Munirathnam. He added that Manoj was diabetic and that the bitter winter cold in the Nilgiris was contributing to a decline in his health.
“He is also unable to find work here, as all the media outlets have published pictures of him. As a result, he is even unable to afford to feed himself,” said Mr. Munirathnam, who added that Manoj had volunteered to come to Udhagamandalam every week and sign in a court register, but that part of his bail condition was that he was to not leave the Nilgiris.
“As a result, we have filed a petition asking that he be taken back to prison, as at least he would be assured of three square meals a day,” said Mr. Munirathnam. The petition has been listed for hearing on Thursday.
