Two key accused in Kodanad case remanded to judicial custody

A court here Saturday remanded the two key accused in the 2017 Kodanad heist case to judicial custody till March four.

The duo, K V Sayan and K C Manoj, had alleged the involvement of Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami in the heist case in a video released by a journalist in January last.

The accused, who were absconding for the last two weeks, were arrested last evening in Thrissur and produced before the District Judge P Vadamalai around 11 PM yesterday.

After hearing the arguments of the government and defense counsels, the judge granted the police custody of the duo till this morning.

The accused were again produced before the judge and were remanded to judicial custody till March 4.

The district court had on February 8 cancelled the bail granted to Sayan and Manoj, after the state government had contended that the two prime accused were hampering the investigation and intimidating witnesses by making public statements.

A guard of Kodanad estate, the retreat of late J Jayalalithaa in Nilgiris district, was found dead on April 23, 2017 in the robbery attempt.

Later police arrested 10 people, including Sayan and Manoj.