The District Crime Branch (Madurai Rural Police) registered a case of land grab against Velammal Educational Trust Chairman M. V. Muthuramalingam, his staff Tirupathi Venkatesan and civil contractor Vijay Anand here on Tuesday.
Following a complaint from A. Samayaal (55) of Deiva Kanni Street, Anuppanadi, Superintendent of Police Asra Garg directed the DCB police to register a case.
Investigation revealed that the complainant owned one acre and 43 cents of cultivable land in Anuppanadi, Madurai South Taluk, valued at Rs 1.25 crore. She, along with her five children, had been cultivating crops and were dependent on the produce raised from the soil for several years.
Velammal educational institution had purchased around 60 acres in the locality to promote and expand its academic activities. When the land belonging to Samayaal alone could not be purchased by the institution, which was adjacent to it, Muthuramalingam's men had forced her to sell it.
Despite repeated pleas, when the complainant did not cooperate in selling her piece of land, Muthuramalingam's men allegedly blocked the water source channel leading to Samayaal's land from Panayur tank. Further, they raised a huge compound wall obstructing farm workers from going to the land, it came to light during investigation.
