A group of farmers have accused a lawyer of swindling them of the land compensation amount provided by the State Government.
In a petition submitted to the City Police, the farmers who have formed an organisation called ‘Vivasayigal Sangam’ said that 153 acres of farm land at Chinnavedampatti were acquired by the State Government to construct a tank in 1995.
The compensation amount was fixed at Rs. 30,000 per acre. Aggrieved over this, they went to the district court, which raised the amount to Rs. 2.40 lakh per acre.
However, the State Government appealed to the Madras High Court, which directed it to deposit Rs. 21 crore. Of this, half was to be disbursed to the farmers with the rest upon final conclusion of the case. The lawyer was given access to the account containing the money and directed to disburse the amount to the farmers.
However, the farmers alleged that their lawyer withdrew Rs. 2 crore this September and failed to disburse it. The farmers filed a petition with the City Police. The Cyber Crime Branch held an inquiry on Wednesday and questioned the lawyer and farmers.