Giving a new dimension to the ongoing row over land frauds involving big plantation companies in the hill station of Nelliampathy, the police have registered cases under Sections 423 and 424 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against four major estates for encroaching government land. Charges for violating the Kerala Land Conservancy (Amendment) Act, 2009 have also been slapped on them.
The four cases have been registered at the Padagiri police station in Nelliampathy following a directive from Thrissur Range Inspector General (IG) Suresh Rajpurohit.
Highly placed sources in the Police Department confirmed that investigation had begun on Tuesday against Karappara, Mankuthi, Pobson and Alexandria tea estates, based on petitions filed by S. Vaisakh of Kuthiramooli and Ashok Kumar of Pulikkatharayil.
The petitions received by the IG alleged that the estates illegally possessed 4,300 acres of government land. They cultivate coffee, pepper and cardamom apart from tea to reap profits.
“The estates were owned by British citizens before Independence. Post-Independence, the lease agreements were cancelled automatically. However, the estates are reaping huge profit by illegally possessing government land,” the petitioners said.
When contacted by The Hindu , officials at the Padagiri police station confirmed that they had started investigation. The officials said they were probing all aspects of the issue and would proceed further within the framework of the law. Documents claiming ownerships of the estate would be subjected to close scrutiny.
Nelliampathy has 53 major plantations functioning on land leased from the Forest Department. Besides Tamil workers brought in by the then British owners from western Tamil Nadu, the plantations have over 600 tribal employees, mainly from the Kadar community
