DMK functionary, Sub-Registrar among six booked for alleged land fraud in Srirangam

The Tiruchi City Crime Branch (CCB) has launched an investigation after registering a case against a DMK functionary, a Sub-Registrar, and four other private individuals in connection with an alleged case of cheating and land fraud involving a portion of land that belongs to the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam during 2022-23.

The charges against the six accused are that they entered into a criminal conspiracy to commit the alleged crime, which led to the temple land being registered illegally in the name of N. Ramkumar, the DMK’s Srirangam area secretary, by using forged documents. The six accused had allegedly committed the crime fully aware that the land belonged to the temple.

The case was registered on September 13 by the CCB, which was acting on a complaint lodged by the temple’s Joint Commissioner/Executive Officer S. Sivaramkumar.

The case has been registered under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property); 465 (forgery); 467 (forgery of valuable security, will), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating); 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

The extent of the temple land that was illegally transferred is a little over 7,000 sq.ft in Srirangam. Police sources said the four private individuals, who claimed to own the land, had registered it illegally in the name of Ramkumar using the forged documents. The amount received in the alleged land transfer was more than ₹2 crore, sources said. They said the CCB had launched an investigation into the crime and was in the process of collecting documents.

Meanwhile, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Minister S. Ramesh on Saturday told reporters in Srirangam that he had received repeated complaints from the public stating that the DMK’s Srirangam area secretary had illegally transferred a portion of land belonging to the temple in his name and was using it as the party office. The HR&CE Department conducted inquiries and collected evidence, he said, adding that it was established that the land belonged to the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple.

The temple authorities had written a letter to the Sub-Registrar office at Srirangam stating that the land belonged to the temple. The DMK functionary used fabricated documents and provided false information that the land had belonged to private individuals in order to get it registered in his name without the original deed, he said.

‘More persons involved’

Mr. Ramesh wondered how an ordinary DMK area secretary managed to deceive the Police, Revenue, HR&CE and Registration Departments. The value of the land is said to be ₹50 crore, he said, adding that this could not have been done without the intervention of some “influential people”.

Terming it a “big fraud”, he added that a complaint had been preferred to the police, along with the evidence, to register a case, and investigation was under way.