COIMBATORE: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Crime Branch-CID on Thursday questioned a fortune-teller who allegedly had a role in the Kodanad murder and heist case. Manoj was questioned by investigating officer Additional Superintendent of Police Murugavel for around five hours from 10 am at the Police Recruits School premises.
Sources said P C Manoj, alias Manojsamy, a resident of Cherthala in Alappuzha, allegedly knew the goings-on and was approached by prime suspects Kanagaraj and Sayan to find out if their plan to loot the property of a Tamil Nadu MLA would be successful.
Sources added Manoj’s younger brother worked as a priest in a temple at Mettur near Podanur, and he used to step in whenever his brother took leave. He also functioned as fortune-teller in the temple.
According to sources, on April 19, 2017, Kanagaraj and Sayan met Manoj in the temple and told him that they were about to execute an important assignment and wanted to know if their effort would be successful.
On April 21, Manoj took them to another fortune-teller Santosh, a resident of Kodakara in Thrissur. They allegedly shared the plan with Santhosh and asked him to arrange people to help them, and he obliged.
Sources added, “On April 22, Kanagaraj, Sayan, Manoj and Santhosh met in Coimbatore city and the next morning, they did a recce in front of the Kodanad estate. A seven-member team joined them in two SUVs. After conducting the recce, they returned to Ooty. “
In the wee hours of April 24, they entered the estate after murdering the security guard Om Bahadur. After the heist, the gang split up and the four of them returned to Coimbatore and the remaining seven headed to Gudalur where they were intercepted at the police check post. However, they were released after a brief inquiry.
Three days later, Kanagaraj died in a road accident on April 28 and on April 29, Sayan lost his wife and daughter in a similar accident in Kerala.