CB-CID teams carried out intensive searches in Dindigul and Tirunelveli districts as part of the probe into the alleged fraudulent registration of land belonging to the Palani Dhandapani Swamy Mutt. The disputed property is around 1.40 acres, estimated to be worth about Rs 100 crore, located on Poonga Road near the Palani foothills.
According to the case details, the land was registered on July 6 at the Palani Sub-Registrar Office in the names of Vellathurai of Pappankulam near Udumalai (Tiruppur district) and Sethupathi of T.K.N. Pudur, Palani. A complaint was later filed at the Palani Adivaram police station alleging the registration violated a court order.
Police registered a case against Sub-Registrar Justin Manikandan, Murugadas of Villupuram, and the two purchasers. Sub-Registrar Justin Manikandan and District Registrar Sasikala were subsequently suspended. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court also ruled that the registration in favour of private individuals was invalid, after which the case was transferred to the CB-CID.
CB-CID began its investigation on July 16 under Madurai SP Sajitha and DSP Ajaythangam, collecting documents and recording statements from temple and registration offices and complainants. On the third day of inquiry, searches were conducted at the residences of the suspended sub-registrar, one of the purchasers, a land broker, and others; officials said key documents, files, bank transaction records and deeds were seized or copied for investigation.
Searches were also carried out at the Palani integrated registration office, where doors were closed during the operation. Separate raids were reported at Vellathurai’s residence, where land-sale documents, bank passbook, PAN and Aadhaar copies, and a laptop were taken, and at Murugadas’s house. In Tirunelveli Town, CB-CID teams searched the home of Shanmugasundaram, a stage-decoration worker and a TVK functionary, as part of the same case.
