Mysterious affair at Jayalalithaa’s Kodanad estate - dacoity, murder and 3 deaths
Spread over 900 acres in the Nilgiris district, the Kodanad estate, which was used as a retreat by former chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa, is mired in mystery.
After the robbery attempt at Kodanad in April, where a security guard was killed, soon after one of the suspects was killed in a road accident and another suspect's family was killed, now in a very mysterious way another employee of the estate was found hanging from the ceiling of his residence.
"He was fine, he told me to make breakfast and that he was lying down in the room till then. But it would have been only 2 minutes after I started making upma and we found him hanging. I can't believe he did this. He was fine," said Kanaki, Dinesh's mother.
Dinesh was a systems executive at the Kodanad estate for the last seven years and has been described as a hardworking and dedicated man. After the demise of Jayalalithaa, a lot of controversies have been associated with this Kodanad property.
In fact, we were told that in the last few days some of the employees have been worried about their job in the estate.
Bojan, Dinesh's father, said: "He had some eye issue and had just got an operation done for the same, otherwise there was no problem in his life. He was always independent and was free to make his choices. We don't know why he did this. He was given to us by God and we just believe that he was taken back by the same God."
Just a few days earlier, Dinesh had been left alone for 15 days, when his younger sister Radhika was delivering her second child. "If he wanted to do this he could have done it then. He was all alone then. He was close to my mom and me and he hadn't once told us anything about any problem. He was happy at work and there were no problems here. We are shocked and we can't believe he did this. No way he would do this," said Radhika.
As the prying eyes of the neighbours increase in the area, the family goes on to say the suicide could have been because of his vision problem, but when they are alone without any company the family insists there was no way Dinesh would have committed suicide.
In fact, Bojan demonstrated how it would have been impossible for his son to hang in the room that he was found dead in. Radhika, who found Dinesh's body first, said her tall brother didn't own the lungi that he apparently used to hang himself with, and that he had never ever spoken about being depressed or of death.
The representatives at the hospital where Dinesh had his surgery confirm that Dinesh's eyes were recovering and he was satisfied with the treatment. Dr Ananth, senior consultant, Lotus Hospital, said: "There is no way that Dinesh could be depressed because of his vision. He had a corrective surgery and had 95 per cent vision and twice had met his doctor post-operation where he had confirmed that he was comfortable with his vision. Wearing glasses would have maintained his vision and Dinesh had also taken the corrective glasses with him."
Police officials for now have registered a complaint under Section 174 of the CrPC, stating unnatural death. "There is no suspicion in the death of Dinesh. A case under Section 174 CrPC has been filed. There is no connection between the deaths in Kodanad and this. The Kodanad case investigation is coming to a closure. We have 10 of the 11 accused in our custody, one was killed. Within 10-15 days everything will be completed," said police superintendent of the Nilgiris Murali Rambha.
As the police clarify the details of the cases, people in Kodanad still remain unsatisfied about the reasonings made. Alwas, a former manager of the Kodanad estate where Dinesh was working, said, "There are so many mysteries surrounding that estate and one accountant is said to have left the estate and soon now this man commits suicide. There are talks that all are connected and it is worrisome."
At the Kodanad estate, in the last two months there has been a dacoity, a murder and two mysterious deaths and the latest is of Dinesh Kumar, the systems executive. As the family remains suspicious about the motive behind the death, questions are being raised about the connection between them and if there will be more such incidents.
Ever since the death of Jayalalithaa, drama and fights over her property are something that has become the main topic of discussion in the state. With uncertainty about the existence of a will and many claiming to be her heirs, when this topic will have closure is something we will have to wait and watch for.