India
In April 2017, the security guard of the Kodanad estate, Jayalalithaa's retreat home in the hilly district of the Nilgiris, was found dead.
Chennai: On Saturday, Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami rejected the allegations made against him by those accused in the Kodanad estate break-in case, saying the police will investigate the matter.
Referring to former Tehelka editor Samuel Mathew releasing a video in Delhi on Friday, in which the accused allegedly linked the chief minister to the break-in, Palaniswami denied his involvement.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) joint coordinator further said that a police case had filed a case in this regard and action will be taken against those who released the video.
Speaking to the reporters, Palaniswami said, "Yesterday (Friday), former Tehelka editor Samuel Mathews released a video which links me to an incident (break-in) that occurred in Amma's Kodanad estate on April 24, 2017. This (charge) is completely contrary to facts, and there is no iota of truth in it."
Making a statement before the media, Palaniswami said the probe would reveal who was behind the incident, even as he claimed that it was an attempt to "malign Amma," referring to late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
In April 2017, the security guard of the Kodanad estate, Jayalalithaa's retreat home in the hilly district of the Nilgiris, was found dead.
It emerged during the probe that Jayalalithaa's former driver C Kanagaraj and K V Sayan had allegedly plotted the crime.
A total of ten people had been arrested in the case, with a charge sheet also being filed later.
However, Kanagaraj and Sayan's wife and daughter were killed in separate road accidents during the probe, even as another employee of the property was found dead, in a case of suspected suicide.
On Saturday, Palaniswami said the accused people, some of whom reportedly spoke in the video, had appeared in court 22 times in connection with the case so far and questioned why they did not share the same in the court.
"They are saying these new things in an attempt to divert the case," he said.
He also denied Jayalalithaa had stored documents received from party functionaries in the estate as purportedly claimed by them in the video on Saturday, saying she never obtained any such papers.
"Those unable to take us on politically are resorting to such cheap cowardice," he said and asserted a probe would reveal those doing so.
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.