Tension grips Karur as officials seal houses on temple land
Residents of Chinna Vadugapatti in Karur had been living on 560 acres of temple land purchased through the revenue department since 1962, and they had also obtained pattas for the land.
Residents of Chinna Vadugapatti block Madurai-Salem National Highway on Thursday, protesting arrest of leaders
TIRUCHY: Tension prevailed at Chinna Vadugapatti in Karur after the HR and CE officials attempted to seal houses constructed on land belonging to Vennaimalai Arulmigu Balasubramanian Swamy temple, and over 400 residents, along with Karur MP, former minister and DMK, Congress and PMK functionaries, were arrested for protesting against the sealing of houses on Thursday.
Residents of Chinna Vadugapatti in Karur had been living on 560 acres of temple land purchased through the revenue department since 1962, and they had also obtained pattas for the land.
In such a backdrop, the Thiruthondar Trust Founder, Radhakrishnan, filed a public litigation with the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court to retrieve the temple land. The court had recently directed the HR and CE department to retrieve the land. It warned of legal action against the Karur District Collector and the Superintendent of Police if the land was not retrieved.
Subsequently, the HR and CE officials sent notice to the residents around four months ago, asking them to vacate the spot as per the court direction. However, the residents opposed the move and commenced protests. But the officials began enumerating the houses to seal them.
On November 14, residents commenced an indefinite hunger strike at Chinna Vadugapatti and all the political parties, particularly DMK, AIADMK, Congress and PMK, had extended their support and joined the protest. On November 17, the protesting residents staged a waiting protest in front of the Vennaimalai temple. Following this, the officials held talks with the protesters and halted the sealing exercise for the time being.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the HR and CE officials, headed by Assistant Commissioner Ramanikanthan and Additional Superintendent of Police Jaychandran, resumed the process of sealing the houses, and the residents staged a protest.
Karur MP S Jothimani, former AIADMK minister MR Vijayabaskar, DMK Union Secretary Moorthy, PMK District Secretaries Premnath and Pugazhur Selvam and cadres from several parties joined the protest.
Despite officials explaining they were acting on the court order, the protest continued. The police arrested cadres, Jothimani, Vijayabaskar, Moorthy and Premnath and lodged them in a wedding hall.
Following the arrest of political leaders, the residents resorted to a road block protest on the Madurai-Salem National Highway and the traffic was disrupted.
Meanwhile, the officials sealed a few houses where the guest workers from Bihar and Assam were residing for rent. The officials had also removed their belongings.