Madurai City Central Crime Branch (CCB) police have registered a case against 19 people in connection with an alleged fraud involving a trust property worth about ₹60 crore, linked to the Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple and Azhagar Temple.
The FIR was filed based on a complaint by Sellathurai, Joint Commissioner and Executive Officer of the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple. Police have invoked IPC Sections 420 (cheating) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy). A complaint by the anti-corruption group Arappor Iyakkam also helped bring the issue to light.
According to a will deed registered in 1930 at the Saidapet Sub-Registrar Office, the Ashoka Vilas bungalow and its adjoining garden on Alagar Kovil Road belong to a trust created to serve the two temples. The will conditions reportedly allow only leasing of the property, and prohibit sale, mortgage, or transfer of ownership.
The complaint alleges that on June 24, 2016, a former Madurai North tahsildar, Anbazhagan, illegally removed the temple’s ownership and transferred the patta to nine individuals including Ramayi Ayyar. Subsequently, a Revenue Divisional Officer cancelled the earlier order, affirmed the land as trust property of the temples, and directed restoration of the patta in the temple’s name. A related case was also filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, where an interim stay had been granted.
Despite the stay, the FIR states that the court order was suppressed and a general power document was registered on April 16, 2021 at the Murappanadu Sub-Registrar Office in Thoothukudi district, followed by a mortgage deed registered on July 19, 2021 at the Vadamadurai Sub-Registrar Office in Dindigul district. CCB police said they are conducting a detailed inquiry into the alleged conspiracy, patta changes, registrations and mortgage related to the temple-linked property.
