M. Natarajan, husband of V.K. Sasikala, was arrested in connection with a case of alleged land grabbing here on Saturday.
A special team of the Thanjavur police picked up Mr. Natarajan from his Besant Nagar residence around 7 p.m. He would be produced in a Thanjavur court and lodged in the Tiruchi central prison, police sources said.
The case arises out of a complaint lodged by S. Ramalingam of Vilar near Thanjavur with the District Crime Branch police that Mr. Natarajan and his associates forcibly encroached upon his 15,000 sq.ft property to construct a memorial there. After razing the cashew plantation, they put up a shed. The accused also intimidated the complainant to sell his property.
Police registered a case against Mr. Natarajan, his brother M. Swaminathan, and associates Chinnaiah, Suresh, Elanchezhiyan and Kubendran under various Sections of IPC, including 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation), and Section 3 of the Tamil Nadu Public Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act, a source said.
“Special teams have been formed to arrest others involved in the case. Mr. Natarajan was at home when the team went there. After asking for the reasons for his arrest, he cooperated,” a senior police officer told The Hindu. Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Tiruchi range) A. Amalraj led the team.
