The Anti-Land Grabbing Cell of the Coimbatore district police has registered a case against former DMK MLA from Mettupalayam constituency B. Arunkumar and two others following orders from the Madras High Court.
According to police, a complaint was filed by S. Subbaiyan, a vegetable trader, with the Cell alleging that the former MLA had colluded with two others to grab his land for fraction of its value in lieu of a loan he had taken from them.
Subbaiyan said his mother had bequeathed three pieces of land at Mettupalayam measuring 1.28 acres, 1.88 acres and 0.10 cents to him, his siblings and their children.
As he had to repay a loan from a public sector bank branch at Coonoor by December 26, 2006, Subbaiyan had borrowed Rs. 3 lakh from Venkitusamy, a money-lender in Mettupalayam. Subbaiyan alleged that Venkitusamy charged usurious interest rates for the loan and demanded immediate repayment of Rs. 3 lakh. Subbaiyan was unable to come up with the money before the due date.
He was forced to take another loan of Rs. 3 lakh after signing a loan document with Venkitusamy’s wife Saroja. Then, Subbaiyan was allegedly forced by Venkitusamy to register three pieces of lands in his name then valued at Rs 3 crore. In order to get Rs. 6 lakh to recover his land, Subbaiyan approached the former DMK MLA Arunkumar. After promising to help him, Arunkumar had allegedly colluded with Venkitusamy and taken possession of Subbaiyan’s lands. Arunkumar had also threatened Subbaiyan and his family members.
Then, he approached the High Court, which issued an order on August 2 directing the Coimbatore District Superintendent of Police and the Inspector of Anti Land Grabbing Cell to conduct an inquiry.
