How The Gods Fall

• 1. Attempt to murder S. Radhakrishnan, former math functionary, in September 2002
  
  
• 2. Attempt to murder temple priest Thirukottiyur Madhavan, in August 3, 2004
  
  
• 3. Mysterious death of Kesavan Namboothiri and Sankaran Namboothiri in 1985, both Veda students in a math-run college
  
  
• 4. Suspicious death of Iyyappa Sharma, a math official, found dead in a temple tank
  
  
• 5. The mysterious death of a 11-year old girl, Subhashree, in July 2004, at the math-run Kamadurga hostel in Kanchipuram

Coming to the surface now are also the mysterious deaths of two students from Kerala in 1985. Kesavan Namboothiri, a second-year degree student at the math-run Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Mahavidyalaya, died in 1985. The math says he died of electrocution. The victim's father Krishnan Namboothiri received a telegram from the Kanchi math on October 1, 1985, saying that his son was involved in an accident. But a telegram the next day said the math authorities were bringing home the body. Kesavan's body—with a deep slash on the back of the head, blood oozing from the mouth and testicles, one of the thighs bearing a burn scar—was brought stuffed in the boot of a car with ice-pieces smeared all over. According to Kesavan's brother Narayanan Namboothiri, Kesavan had tried to expose certain undesirable activities in the math. He died days before he was to visit home to consult his parents about this. Within a week of Kesavan's death, the body of his classmate Sankaran Namboothiri was found on a railway track.

The police report registered at the Siva Kanchi police station states that there was suspicion over Kesavan's death. However, a post-mortem was not conducted. Kesavan's family had then petitioned the Kerala and TN governments to initiate a probe, but there was no progress. Today, the Namboothiri family has written to chief minister Jayalalitha seeking justice. This case has now been taken up by the special investigating team (SIT). Similarly, the suspicious death of Iyyappa Sharma, a math functionary from Andhra Pradesh whose body was found in a temple tank a few years ago, is also being probed by the SIT.

According to intelligence sources, Jayalalitha is trying to bring up a case against DMK leader M. Karunanidhi's son M.K. Stalin. Appu alias Krishnaswamy, a key accused (who is still at large) in the Sankararaman murder case, was associated with senior DMK leader Arcot N. Veerasamy till 2001. On July 17, 2001, Ramesh, a businessman and close aide of Stalin, committed 'suicide' with his entire family of wife and three children. Investigations have now revealed Appu's hand in Ramesh's death. Unofficially, police is said to have taken into custody Kutty alias 'Airport' Saravanan, a close associate of Appu. Kutty, it is suspected, had a hand in the death of Ramesh, who was being watched by the state police in connection with the corruption charges against Stalin in the flyover scam. In police parlance, "Ramesh was an alleged benami for Stalin".

In September 2001, Jayalalitha had said: "The death of Ramesh was not a case of suicide. They (DMK) are aware of it. The police will come out with the facts soon." That day may not be far away. If Appu is arrested, his interrogation may help nail not only Jayendra Saraswati but also Stalin. Though there's no connection between Ramesh's and Sankararaman's death, for the first time, Anna Arivalayam, the DMK HQ, and the Kanchi math would be linked by a common element—the mercenary Appu. If and when that happens, we may well understand what Karunanidhi meant by Jayalalitha's "personal motives" in giving the go-ahead to arrest Jayendra Saraswati