KOCHI: The police on Friday took two persons, including a revenue official, into custody as part of the investigation into the forgery of documents for the conversion of wetland into dry land at Choornikara. According to the police, the persons being interrogated are facilitators who helped the other accused persons to forge the documents.
Abootty alias Abu of Sreemoolanagaram near Kalady was taken into custody from his residence on Friday early morning. Another person is an official with the Land Revenue Department in Thiruvananthapuram. Police officials are trying to trace out other collaborators involved in the forgery.
“Abootty received at least Rs 7 lakh as commission for the land deal. We suspect the gang was involved in similar land deals using forged documents before. The forgery has taken place with the knowledge of Revenue Department officials. More officials will be interrogated in the coming days,” a police officer said.
According to the police, it was Abu who revealed the names of revenue officials involved in the forgery. The police have also recovered documents related to the case from him. A team from the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) is also interrogating him.
It is alleged 25 cents of paddy fields in the 14th ward of Choornikkara grama panchayat, notified as a wetland, was filled up by a private party and godowns were constructed. The land originally belongs to Hamsa, Mulamparambil Veettil, Mathilakam, Thrissur.