COIMBATORE: In a major breakthrough, police have detained seven men in connection with the murder of the security guard of the Kodanad estate owned by former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. A former driver of Jayalalithaa, who was sacked by her in 2012, is suspected to be the mastermind behind the murder and breakin.Police have launched a hunt for the man, identified as Kanagaraj from Chennai. Of the seven detained, three are from Thrissur in Kerala, and are associates of Kanagaraj.According to a police source, Kanagaraj worked as driver of Jayalalithaa in Chennai. He often visited the estate in Nilgiris district and knew all details of the estate and the bungalow ."When Kanagaraj was Jayalalithaa's driver, he is said to have misused her name and this was brought to her notice.He was immediately sacked and sent out of Poes Garden.After Jayalalithaa's death and V K Sasikala was sent to jail, none of the stakeholders had been visiting the estate and only private security guards were there at the 12 gates roundthe-clock," said the source.Kanagaraj befriended Sayan of Thrissur, and had been working in a bakery at Kuniyamuthur in Coimbatore. After Jayalalithaa's death, the car driver planned to burgle the Kodanad bungalow .Kanakaraj hatched a conspiracy with Sayan, who arranged a five-member gang from Thrissur. They struck at Kodanad on April 24 around 1.30am.The gang murdered one of the security guards, Om Bahadur, 51, and severely assaulted Krishna Bahadur , 27, at the 10th gate of the estate.The gang entered the bun galow and broke into the rooms where Jayalalithaa and Sasikala used to stay. Police suspect that the gang might have taken away some valuables from the bungalow. Krishna Bahadur told police that he noticed a sports utility vehicle (SUV) at the crime scene. The gang members left two fake number plates and escaped through the Gudalur check post.However, the vehicle with its original number plates was caught on a CCTV camera and the vehicle was traced to Thrissur. This helped the police zero in on the accused.Nilgiris district SP Murali Rambha also rushed to the spot and began questioning the suspects.Police sources in Thrissur gave the names of those detained as Satheeshan, 42, son of Sahadevan of Pudukkad, Deepu, 32, son of Dineshan of Kanakamala near Kodakara, and Santhosh, 40, son of Chathutty of Avittappilli. While Satheeshan is a labourer, Deepu is a tipper driver and Santhosh a temple priest. There are reports that four others were arrested from Malappuram district , but their names were not available. Police plan to bring all seven to Nilgiris district on Saturday .Aspecial team is trying to find out the whereabouts of Kanagaraj in Chennai and another team is searching for Sayan at Kuniyamuthur.(With inputs from T Ramavarman - Thrissur)

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