Land grabbing: DMK civic chief held

NAMAKKAL: The anti-land grab special cell police have arrested a sitting Municipal Chairman, belonging to DMK, along with a realtor and owner of a private college on the charges of allegedly usurping a land worth Rs 5 crore, here on Saturday. According to a senior police officer, R Nadesan, sitting chairman of the Tiruchengode Municipality and a contestant for the chairmanship and Om Sakthi Shanmugam alias Shanmugam were held on Saturday based on a complaint lodged by Thillai Eshwari, a resident of U Mettupalayam near Tiruchengode.Following instructions from the  SP Pravesh Kumar, a  special team, led by anti-land grab special cell DSP K Parameshwaran and Inspector M Muneeshwaran, registered a case under various sections. DSP Parameshwaran said, “The complainant had alleged that the duo had usurped the land measuring 99.5 cents, which had a value of about ` 5 crore by fabricating documents.”The property was owned by the complainant’s father Eshwaran jointly with his two brothers, he said. Municipal Chairman Nadesan, with the help of A C Venkatachalam, the third accused in the case, forged the documents to show that the land belonged to him and sold it to Shanmugam. Later, Shanmugam converted the land, which he registered in his wife’s name Kaliammal, into plots and sold them at a high cost. A mill which was existing on the land was also demolished by them.The special team interrogated Nadesan and Shanmugam before producing them in the Paramathi Velur court on Saturday. The duo was later lodged in Salem Central Prison.