Chennai, May 3: For Tamil Nadu politics, Kodanad Estate in the Nilgiris has always been an enigma. Now, a sinister element has been injected into the misty legend of what was once the summer resort of Jayalalithaa, the four-time chief minister who passed away last year.

On April 23, the Nilgiris woke up to the news that a guard, Om Bahadur, at the sprawling estate has been murdered. Witnesses later said that they saw some cars entering the premises at night. Based on preliminary investigations, police suspect that a 10-member gang could have been involved in an attempt to steal valuables in the estate.

In a couple of days, one Kanagaraj, a former driver of Jayalalithaa and a suspect in the murder case, met with a road accident and died.

This was followed by another accident involving Syon, another suspect in the case. He was also a former employee of Jayalalithaa, and in the accident, his wife and child were killed. Syon was critically injured and he is undergoing treatment at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.

The domino deaths prompted some to draw a parallel with the suspected suicide of Sadiq Pasha, the Man Friday of former telecom minister A. Raja who is charged in the 2G case. The suggestion seems to be that one after another, those who might be harbouring secrets are getting themselves sucked into life-threatening situations.

Some suspects in the guard murder case have been arrested. The police suspect that the alleged burglars waited for long to strike because they might have suspected that the property might have been put under surveillance after Jayalalithaa passed away in December.

The nature of the valuables allegedly targeted by the intruders or their worth has not been discussed in public. But the attempted burglary has caught the imagination of those keeping track of the property because speculation is rife that a bungalow on the premises contains several documents and "very precious items".

Jayalalithaa used to stay in the bungalow that has at least a dozen rooms. The bungalow had been out of bounds for all except Jayalalithaa and her close aides like Sasikala, who is now in a jail near Bangalore, for the past 25 years, adding to the myths surrounding the place.

Such is the nature of the mystery shrouding the estate that there is little consensus on something as basic as it size. Estimates vary from 1,000 acres to 2,000 acres. The estate has a dozen gates and it accommodates a tea factory as well. More than 800 persons are employed in the factory.

The general perception in Tamil Nadu is that Jayalalithaa had amassed considerable wealth but she is said to have died intestate (without leaving behind a will).

Fortune has not favoured the self-appointed custodians of the Kodanadu Estate since Jayalalithaa's passing. Sasikala, aka Chinnamma, became the virtual custodian of Jayalalithaa's properties, including Kodanad Estate and Poes Garden residence in Chennai.

But Sasikala is not Jayalalithaa's blood relative. After Sasikala began serving time, her nephew T.T.V. Dinakaran, whom she appointed as the deputy general secretary of AIADMK, was said to be calling the shots in Kodanad Estate as well.

But adversity caught up with Dinakaran, a former MP, too. He is in judicial custody in Delhi following his arrest in connection with an alleged attempt to bribe Election Commission officials Rs 50 crore to reclaim the party symbol of "two leaves" which is under dispute.

With Dinakaran locked away in Delhi, the Nilgiris are now waiting to see what secrets the bungalow will unlock and what lies behind the 12 gates of Kodanad Estate.