R.M. Palanisamy, father of P. Dhanapal, who lodged a land grab complaint against Mayor S.M. Velusamy, was assaulted in front of his house in Ramanathapuram on Monday morning. In his complaint, Mr. Palanisamy said the three masked men who assaulted him with iron rods abused him for lodging a complaint against the Mayor.
The incident happened around 6.30am.
Hearing his cries, when Mr. Dhanapal rushed out of the house, he saw the three fleeing on motorcycles. Two of those were wearing trousers and the other dhoti.
Mr. Dhanapal said that those who assaulted his father had tracked his movements for his father was in the habit of going to a nearby tea shop to sip tea and buy the morning paper.
Soon after the assault, Mr. Palanisamy was taken to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, where the doctors said that his condition was stable. He had lodged a complaint with the Ramanathapuram Police but without naming anybody.
The police said that they had registered a case under Section 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons) of the Indian Penal Code.
Even as the police were registering a case, their counterparts in the Anti Land grab Cell too registered a case. This was based on the Coimbatore Corporation’s complaint against Mr. Dhanapal and his father, R.M. Palanisamy.
The Corporation had said that the father-son duo had grabbed a 28 cent land that was marked ‘reserved for public purpose.’ The land was registered in the name of the Commissioner, Coimbatore Corporation.
To prevent the encroachment, the Corporation had lodged a complaint with the City Police on July 30.
Based on the complaint, the Anti Land Grab Cell of the City Police had registered a case under Section 447 (criminal trespass) of the Indian Penal Code.
An officer in the Cell said that the police had sought details from the Corporation about the land. Once they furnish those details, the police would initiate further action.
On Tuesday, a city court will take up for hearing a case filed by P. Dhanapal and his father, who had sought injunction against the Corporation Commissioner’s move to take possession of the land in dispute.
