Two under-trials and prime accused in the former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s Kodanad estate dacoity and murder case, K.V. Sayan and ‘Walayar’ Manoj were acquitted by the Additional Mahila Court Judge in Udhagamandalam on Friday (November 28, 2025) in a 2019 case of intimidating a witness.
According to the duo’s lawyers – Thambi Nihas and David Kamal – both Sayan and Manoj had been booked by the police for allegedly threatening a witness in the Kodanad dacoity and murder case. “The case was falsely registered against them both by the police who wanted them to be detained under the Goondas Act,” claimed Mr. Nihas while interacting with journalists outside the Combined Court Complex in Udhagamandalam on Friday.
The two men were charged by the police on February 1, 2019, under sections 447 (Criminal trespass), 506(i) (criminal intimidation) and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Women Harassment Act. During the time of filing the charge sheet, the police had altered the charges against them and had dropped the case for criminal trespass.
Due to a lack of evidence produced by the police, the Additional Mahila Court Judge in Ooty, S. Sozhiya, acquitted both men of the charges. Sayan and Manoj are still under trial in the main Kodanad dacoityand murder case.