KOCHI: Police arrested and removed protesters and a house owner who resisted an eviction drive carried out by court officials at Ponnoth Road, Kadavanthra, on Saturday. The eviction was conducted by officials, including those from the district court, with police protection.
The house of Vilasini, who has been living with her family on three cents of puramboke (revenue land) at Ponnoth Road for more than 40 years, was evicted after three earlier attempts had failed due to protests by residents.
The arrested include Varghese C T, Pratheesh Kumar K P, Vijayan T K, Varghese C T, Viswanathan K T, Joseph Shaji, Ajikumar T P, A R Sunitha Vilasini and Bindhu Shaji. Vilasini and her daughter Bindhu Shaji, who reportedly suffered health issues following the arrests, were admitted to the Ernakulam General Hospital.
The dispute concerns 62 cents of puramboke land, including the three cents on which Bindhu’s house stands. The father of Ravindran, a resident of Valanjambalam and the opposing party in the case, had obtained a title deed for the property in 1995.
Ravindran approached the Ernakulam Munsiff Court in 2017, alleging that Bindhu and her family were illegally occupying his property and seeking their eviction. The Munsiff Court initially ruled in favour of Bindhu. Ravindran subsequently appealed before the District Court, which passed a verdict in his favour.
Meanwhile, the KSKTU Ernakulam area committee submitted a complaint to the district collector alleging that forged documents had been used for the transfer of the land and sought cancellation of the title deed.