Sathyam Cinemas director booked in land grab case

His relative and kin of former CM have been arrested in Rs. 155 crore scam

September 01, 2013 01:35 am | Updated June 02, 2016 08:13 am IST - CHENNAI:

The arrested persons had threatened the trustees of the plot and forced them to register 16 grounds in their name

The arrested persons had threatened the trustees of the plot and forced them to register 16 grounds in their name

Swaroop Reddy, director of Sathyam Cinemas, has been booked on charges of land grabbing by the Central Crime Branch of the city police. His relative Sujay Anand Reddy was arrested on Saturday in the case pertaining to usurping prime land in Nungambakkam worth Rs. 155 crore.

Police sources said Uma Maheshwari (53), who is a relative of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, and also runs Orchid Foundation Private Limited, had grabbed 16 grounds of a 20.5 grounds-plot on Kumarappa Street, Kasi Garden in Nungambakkam.

The land was owned and had been maintained by a private trust since 1915.

In 2006, Uma along with her accomplices threatened Ethis Gupta, treasurer of the trust, and forced him to sell the property for a very low price of Rs. 2.1 crore.

At the time of the registration the following year, the suspects registered 16 grounds in their name and gave the trustees only Rs. 1.70 crore of which they took back Rs. 1.50 crore.

They had promised the trustees that a marriage hall and temple would be constructed on the plot.

Sujay Anand Reddy (39) of Nandanam was given the power of attorney for the usurped property and in 2012, he sold 2.5 grounds of land to his relative Swaroop Reddy who fenced the plot.

Backed by Uma Maheshwari, Sujay and his henchmen threatened Gupta and the other trustees and chased them away from the property which they had been maintaining for years.

Gupta lodged a complaint with the Office of the Commissioner of Police on Tuesday and a CCB probe was ordered into the matter. Uma Maheshwari was arrested on Friday and remanded to custody.

Her accomplice Sujay Anand Reddy was arrested by the CCB team early on Saturday. Swaroop Reddy, who is named in the FIR, is likely to be arrested soon, CCB sources added.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.