KASARAGOD : A village extension officer (VEO) locked up Savitri, a LIFE Mission applicant, in his office room for 15 minutes when she came to take back the copy of documents that she had produced for getting a house under the LIFE Mission project.
The Kasaragod police registered a case against Abdhul Nasar, VEO of Mogral Puthur panchayat, on the complaint of Savitri, based on the incident that occurred on June 14.
Nisha K, daughter of Savithri, said, “I went to the office to take back the documents that were submitted for getting a house under the LIFE Mission project. The VEO refused to give them and said the documents would only be given to my mother. When I went with my mother, he said there was no copy of the documents there and refused to return them. When I went to make a complaint against him, he locked up my mother in the room in front of the people present there, and later he opened it. When he gave us the documents, we didn’t take them because they didn’t have papers signed by my father.”
Meanwhile, Abdhul Nasar also filed a complaint against Prameela Majal, health and education standing committee chairperson of Mogral Puthur grama panchayat; Kotta Valappil Savithri, Usha and four others for interrupting official work on June 13 with the Kasaragod police.
He said, “I didn’t give the documents to Savithri’s daughter as official documents of Savithri cannot be given to another person without her consent. I gave all documents to them, but they are alleging that some papers are missing. They are trying to take advantage of the situation. I made a complaint against Prameela as she interrupted my official duty.”
Savithri demolished her old home when she was informed that her name was included in the LIFE Mission project, and moved to a temporary shed.
Later, the officials said that her name was not included in the LIFE Mission project, but another Savithri was the actual person eligible for the project.
But it was too late, as they had demolished their old home, and they had availed a loan to dig a borewell, which failed to provide water.
Savithri, her husband Mithran, and their two sons are currently living in the shed. One son is mentally challenged, and the other is suffering from partial paralysis. The couple also has two daughters who are living with their husbands.
Prameela said, “I didn’t interrupt the duty of VEO. I was accompanying Savithri and her daughter. He is making a false allegation. Due to his carelessness, Savithri lost her house. Her name was mistakenly considered in place of another Savithri from another ward. She only came to know about it after demolishing her house and was waiting for the first instalment to build a new house.”
Kasaragod police official said, “Both parties have registered complaints against each other. We have started an investigation.”