DINDIGUL: Yet another fradulent transaction involving the Palani sub-registrar office has come to light amid a probe into a case pertaining to a mutt land in the town.
The Palani municipality has launched an inquiry after its property measuring 1.66 acres and estimated to be worth Rs 60 crore was illegally transferred using forged documents to private individuals in the Palani sub registrar office on July 6.
Incidentally, the documents were registered by the now-suspended sub-registrar Justin Manikandan on July 6, the same day the mutt land was illegally registered.
A top official in the municipality said they are currently verifying the old documents related to the land and would be filing a police complaint soon.
According to sources, two fake documents claiming ownership of a 1.66-acre plot on Old Dharapuram Road in Palani were registered at the sub-registrar office on July 6.
The first document is related to a settlement deed, where C Ravichandran (63) — a resident of Neikkarapatti in Palani claiming himself as the owner of the property — transfers the ownership of the land to his son, R Manoj Kumar. The value of the land is declared as `2.66 cr.
The second document is related to a sale deed, where Manoj Kumar sells the land to person identified as N Soundarapandian (31). The value of this deal is `20 lakh.
The vice chairman of the municipal council, P Kandasamy said, “The value of the land could be `60 crore. In the 1950s, local landlord Mangala Kavundar had donated to Palani municipality 25 acres for dumping of waste; in return he got 1.66 acres located at Old Dharapuram Road.
But, he and his heirs didn’t get the ownership of the 1.66 acres transferred to their name. As years passed by, the property was completely forgotten. Using this to their advantage, some people attempted to grab a portion of the property and got the sale registration. “
A Palani municipality official confirmed the civic body has started an inquiry. “We have started an inquiry on the matter. We are collecting all documents of the property. We will be filing a complaint with Palani Town police station,” she said. As per 1917 records, the ownership of the land is vested with “Palani Municipality Chairman,” she stated.
Meanwhile, the registration department has also launched an inquiry since the settlement deed and the sale deed were registered simultaneously without verification of ownership.
Mutt land: HC tells CB-CID to file status report
Madurai: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Thursday sought a status report from CB-CID on the progress of the investigation into a case registered over fraudulent sale of a 1.4-acre land belonging to Dhandapani Swamy Mutt in Palani.
A bench of justices C V Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel directed the CB-CID to file the status report on August 5, adding that the date of the next hearing would be decided then.
The bench was hearing a batch of petitions filed seeking CBI probe into the case. The petitioners were ex-MLA KSN Venugopalu, Palani municipality chairman R Uma Maheshwari Pradeep and Annapoorani Sivakumar, who claimed to be a trustee of the above mutt.