Coimbatore/Salem: VC Arukutty, MLA from Kavundampalayam constituency in Coimbatore, appeared before police in Attur station for an inquiry in connection with the Kodanad murder cum break-in on Tuesday.
The MLA, who was among the first to switch over to former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam camp, was summoned by police to probe his links with driver Kanagaraj, a prime accused, who died mysteriously in an accident in Salem on April 28.
Police have established that the legislator was in regular contact with Kanagaraj.
He was asked to appear at Attur police station on Wednesday morning, but the MLA arrived on Tuesday evening itself as he claimed to have some other work the next day.
Speaking to journalists, the MLA said, “Police called me for an inquiry as I was in the call list of Kanagaraj. I got to know him, when he was working as a driver in my friend’s firm in Chennai.”
“He got introduced to me as a former driver to Amma. So during my visits to Chennai, I used to take his service as a driver. I trusted him, but when cracks surfaced in AIADMK soon after the demise of Amma, Kanagaraj sided with the opposite faction. He also tipped them that I was in support of O. Panneerselvam. When I came to know this, I stopped talking to him over the last two months,” the MLA said.
Police have so far arrested eight persons in connection with the break-in cum murder of a security guard at the Kodanad estate on April 24. The summoning of an MLA comes a day after Dhanabal, the elder brother of Kanagaraj raised suspicion suspecting the role of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami in the high profile case.
