New tension for ADMK's joint coordinator Edappadi Palaniswami and this time, it comes from the judicial body as the Madras High Court has poured more trouble for the former Chief Minister in the Kodanad heist-cum-murder case amid being surfaced with ordeals from the state's executive body, the government of Tamil Nadu led by MK Stalin. On Friday - August 27, the Madras High Court has permitted the police to deepen their investigation into the Kodanad case and the court's direction has come days after the police had questioned Sayan, one of the accused in the case. 

It was Sayan who had earlier divulged that the robbery at the Kodanad estate, that belonged to Jayalalithaa, has happened in the instruction of the then Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami. The heist and murder at the palatial estate have happened in April 2017, four months after the demise of Jayalalithaa. The state had shocked to witness a robbery in what had been a highly surveilled and sophisticated estate, that Jayalalithaa used for her retreat. Several documents and valuables were looted from the estate and the robbers had also murdered Om Bahadur, who was a security guard at the estate. 

Days after the robbery, Kanagaraj, who was a car driver for Jayalalithaa and prime suspect in the case, was killed in a road accident in Salem and the next day, another accused Sayan also met with a road accident. However, he had escaped with injuries while his wife and child have died and in July 2017, a CCTV operator had committed suicide. These incidents had dismayed the state and showered more mysteries behind the robbery. However, the case didn't progress further during the previous ADMK regime and during the 2021 assembly polls, DMK had promised that it will fasten the case and bring the responsible to light. 

Nearly four months after returning to power, there were signs that the government is reopening the investigation into the murder and robbery in the Kodanad estate, that sits near Kothagiri in the Nilgiris district. Recently, the senior police officials including the Superintendent of Police had questioned Sayan, one of the accused of the case, for nearly three hours and the sudden questioning had shocked the ADMK leaders, particularly Edappadi Palaniswami. During the assembly session, the former Chief Minister had opposed a further investigation into the Kodanad case and he had accused the DMK government of attempting to trap him in the case. 

The ADMK leaders had also protested against the DMK government with the claim that the MK Stalin administration is slapping false cases against the party. The reports say that the recent investigation with Sayan has drawn more significance that the DMK regime is resurrecting the case as Sayan and another accused Valayar Manoj alleged in a short documentary in 2019 that the robbery had happened under the instructions of the then Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami. With the state government expediting the case, many reports vowed that the case is nearing its climax. 

Amid developments that irked Palaniswami, Ravi, an ADMK functionary in the Nilgiris district, had approached the Madras High Court with his petition of opposing the further investigation into the case. In his petition, Ravi has claimed that he is facing threats to file a favourable witness statement. He asked the need to investigate him after the charge sheet has been filed in the case and said that there is no need for him to appear for investigation as he had already appeared once. The police have replied in court that there will be no danger to him. 

On Friday, after the hearing, the High Court bench led by Justice Nirmal Kumar had dismissed Ravi's petition and has said the police can carry out further investigation into the Kodanad case. Dismissing Ravi's petition, Justice Nirmal Kumar had said that Ravi has no right in the case as he is only a witness. The High Court observed that the police can carry out further investigation even after the charge sheet is filed. On the other hand, the High Court also heard the prosecution's plea on Friday in which the police had said that VK Sasikala, a former aide of Jayalalithaa, needs to be investigated in the case.

The police have further said that many mysteries remain around the case. As the police have got clearance from the judiciary for further investigation, the reports say that the case will now deeply haunt Edappadi Palaniswami as the police can summon him as well as his rival VK Sasikala for further investigations into the case. Recently, speaking at the assembly, Chief Minister MK Stalin has said that the DMK government is fulfilling its promise by reopening the Kodanad case and cited that Edappadi Palaniswami doesn't have to worry if he hasn't done anything wrong.