Ex-DRO faces DVAC probe over land fraud

The DVAC FIR cites S Somasundaram, former district revenue officer of Thiruvallur, and Velammal, retired Ambattur tahsildar, along with others in the case, which is being probed by the agency. The DRO is accused of a fraud in which he helped the five other accused to take over 61 cents of land (12.25 cents each) belonging to SIDCO at the Ambattur industrial estate and already handed over to other people, by misusing his position to create fraudulent files and documents. 

The other accused in the alleged fraud, identified as J Sarasa, T Tamarakani, J Mohan, P Palanichamy and K Narayanan – claimed that their forefathers were legal heir owners of the land in question. 

The land was a poramboke land when SIDCO took over it in the year 1992. However, when they approached Somasundaram with a petition to inspect the land and restore it to them, he set aside the registry and accorded a notional classification of the land as ‘assessed waste land’. 

Further, he directed the Ambattur taluk Tahsildar Velammal to grant assignment in favour of the petitioners. The revenue officials, notes the FIR, had deliberately mixed up files numbers and documents to cover their fraudulent actions. 

The five persons who got the patta registered in their name in May 2011 had sold the land to one Gowtham Chand Surana, another accused named in the FIR, for Rs 1.65 crore within two months.   

Case has been registered under various sections of IPC for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, forgery, cheating, using a forged document as genuine, and also provisions under Prevention of Corruption Act.