KARUR: Amid protests, officials of the HR&CE department, along with revenue staff and police, on Thursday evicted 23 families at Chinna Vadugapatti village who had built houses on land belonging to the Balasubramaniya Swamy Temple at Vennaimalai. Tension prevailed when four members of the family of Kannamma, tried to die by suicide in protest. Police rescued them.
Over 200 people, including Congress MP S Jothimani, former AIADMK ministers M R Vijayabaskar and M Chinnasamy, tried to block the Karur-Namakkal NH in solidarity. Police took detained them and cleared the road.
According to sources, the Balasubramaniya Swamy temple owns 547 acres of ‘Inam’ land spread across Kathaparai, Athur, and Aandankovil panchayats. For several generations, people have been residing in the lands.
A Radhakrishnan of Salem, who is the trustee of Thiruthondar Charitable Trust, filed a case in the Madurai Bench of the HC in 2019 seeking action to reclaim the temple land. Based on his petition, the court ordered HR&CE officials to take possession of the lands.
After several delays and a recent order in a contempt case, HR&CE officials started the eviction process three weeks ago, which triggered protests.
On Thursday, a team officials led by Assistant Commissioner of HR&CE department Ramani Kanthan and Superintendent of Police K Josh Thangaiah evicted the families.