Congress demands probe of accidents of Kodanad estate murder case accused

The Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress Party on Saturday demanded a high-level probe of two road accidents involving two persons who were accused in a murder case committed on former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalaitha's Kodanad estate.

Prime accused C Kanagaraj, 36, who was also a driver of late Jayalalitha, died in a road accident in Attur near Salem district on Friday.

K.V.Sayan , 35, the second accused and a close friend of Kanagaraj, was critically injured in another road accident in Kerala's Thrissur district. Sayan's wife and child, who were with him, died in the accident.

Kanagaraj met with an accident while he was on his way to a relative's house in Sakthi Nagar in Thalaivasal.

Meanwhile, a critical Sayan has been shifted to the Coimbatore Government Medical College.

In Kanagaraj's death, a case has been registered under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the car driver at the Attur Police Station.

Tamil Nadu Pradesh Congress Committee (TNPCC) president S. Thirunavukkarasar said he suspected foul play in both accidents and therefore was demanding a high-level probe to unveil the truth.

"The accident cases should be properly investigated either by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or by a retired judge of the high court so that the truth can come forth," said Thirunavukkarasar.

On April 24, Om Bahadur, 50, a security guard at late Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa's Kodanad estate was allegedly killed by Kanagaraj and Sayan. Ooty Police arrested three persons- Santosh, Satish and Deepak- in connection with the murder.