DMK municipal chief arrested

NAMAKKAL: In an early morning swoop, the anti-land grab cell police arrested a DMK municipal chairman on the charge of usurping a land worth Rs 1.50 crore, here on Thursday.According to SP Pravesh Kumar, a case was registered against R Nadesan, chairman of the Tiruchengode municipality, based on a complaint from S Vasanthi, a resident of Keeramabur near here. The complainant had alleged that the land owned by her father-in-law, Chinnaya, was forcibly encroached upon by Nadesan and his associates last year.A senior official with the anti-land grab cell told Express that V Rajavelu, Nadesan’s aide, fabricated documents to show that he had purchased the land belonging to one Kamalam, who had passed away in 1993.Rajavelu is also said to have taken another woman, Kamalam, to the sub-registrar’s office and made her impersonate the one who had sold the land to him. Using fake documents, he then registered the land belonging to Vasanthi’s father-in-law as well.Later, he again fabricated documents to show that the land was sold to Nadesan and subsequently, it was registered in the municipal chairman’s name.Last year, Nadesan, along with Rajavelu and some others, allegedly encroached upon the land by intimidating the real owners.On Thursday, a special team arrested Nadesan. He was booked under sections 147, 148, 294 (b), 506 (ii), 120 (B) and 420 of the IPC and produced before the judicial magistrate court in Tiruchengode. The team is on the lookout for Rajavelu and 11 others accused in the case.