COIMBATORE: Valayar Manoj, one of the suspects in the Kodanad heist and murder case, has filed a petition in the Nilgiris district sessions court seeking relaxation on his bail conditions.
The Madras High Court granted bail to Manoj in July with the condition that he furnish two sureties each of property worth `50,000 from residents of Nilgiris or Coimbatore. But no one has come forward to provide him sureties, and he is still in Coonoor sub-jail.
His advocate Munirathinam filed a petition in the Nilgiris District Sessions Court on Thursday seeking relaxation to accept sureties from Kerala natives. The petition has been listed for hearing on Monday.
Manoj was arrested on June 6, 2017.
A judicial magistrate granted him bail on September 11, 2017, as prosecution failed to file a charge sheet within 90 days of arrest. Upon his release on bail, Manoj, along with another accused KV Sayan, gave an interview to a New Delhi based journalist in January 2019 where they alleged that the crime took place at the behest of the then Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and that Kanagaraj, Jayalalithaa’s former car driver, had confided in them.
The video interview went viral following which the trial court cancelled the duo’s bail. The High Court confirmed cancellation of bail while dismissing their revision petition and subsequently they were re-arrested in 2019.