Ex-DMK minister’s brother booked for landgrab

A sprawling 9.6 acres belonging to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department, worth Rs 50 crore, had been allegedly bought for a paltry Rs 25 lakh by the former DMK minister’s kin with forged documents.

“We are perusing the land documents and collecting details. We have booked a case against Arjunan and three others. Investigation is on,” Coimbatore SP M. Sudhakar told Deccan Chronicle. R. Senthilvelan, joint commissioner of HR&CE from Tiruvannamalai, lodged a complaint with anti-land grab cell inspector S. Karunakaran on Wednesday. In his complaint, he stated that Rathinasamy and Sadasivam had forged land documents to sell 9.6 acres at Pappampatti Pirivu, near Sulur, belonging to the HR&CE department to Nandakumar in 2007 for Rs 14 lakh. Four months later, Nandakumar sold the land to Mr Palanisamy’s brother Arjunan for Rs 25 lakh.

Later, the land was allegedly encroached by Vijayalakshmi Palanisamy Charitable Trust. The trust later constructed Kalaignar Karunanidhi Institute of Technology on the 9.6 acre. The anti-land grab cell of Coimbatore rural police have booked cases against Arjunan, besides Sadasivam of Kannampalayam, his brother K. Rathinasamy from Pallapalayam, near Sulur, and K.V.R. Nandakumar from Kannampalayam, near Sulur, for allegedly grabbing the HR&CE land.

They have been booked under sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 423 (dishonest or fraudulent execution of deed of transfer containing false statement of consideration), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code.