Palani temple land row: CB-CID slaps another case on sub-registrar in ICU

MADURAI: Police have registered a fresh case against suspended Sub-Registrar Justin Manikandan Subramanian and two others over alleged irregularities in the registration of a private property at West Ayyakudi, even as the official, arrested in the Rs 100-crore Palani land registration fraud case, remains under treatment at Madurai Rajaji Hospital (GRH) ICU.

The case was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by the present Palani Sub-Registrar, Easwari. Police booked Justin Manikandan (44), Mani (64) of Komarapalayam in Coimbatore district and Kandasamy (87) of TKN Pudur in Palani.

The complaint alleged that the property was registered on July 7 despite the alleged non-submission of proper documents. Police have commenced an investigation.

Meanwhile, doctors at GRH on Wednesday conducted an angiography on Justin Manikandan to assess his heart condition and kept him under close observation in the ICU of the Cardiology Department.

“He is already a cardiac patient and a stent has been placed in his heart. He also suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure,” a GRH doctor said.

Based on the recommendation of doctors at the Dindigul hospital, CB-CID personnel brought him to GRH in an ambulance equipped with ICU facilities. “We are closely monitoring him. If necessary, we will place another stent in his heart,” doctors said.

Judicial Magistrate-I, Dindigul, Bhakyaraj, had visited the hospital, verified that Manikandan was undergoing treatment and formally remanded him in judicial custody till August 21. He will continue treatment at the hospital while remaining in judicial custody.

Meanwhile, the Dindigul JM-I court dismissed the regular bail petitions filed by Manikandan and document writer-cum-broker Jayaprakash.

The duo had approached the court after the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed their anticipatory bail petitions on August 5, observing that granting anticipatory bail could hamper the investigation and accepting the prosecution's submissions. They filed regular bail petitions before the JM-I court on August 8, with Manikandan citing his health condition.

Petitions seeking transfer of the investigation into the alleged Palani land registration fraud to the CBI also came up for hearing on Wednesday. Counsel for the petitioners raised suspicions over the death of advocate S Anwardeen, another accused in the case, while in judicial custody, and sought transfer of the investigation to the CBI.

The Government Pleader opposed the plea, urging the court not to politicise the issue and submitting that the investigation was being conducted on the basis of documents and evidence. The court said it needed to examine the CB-CID's report in detail and adjourned the hearing to August 24.

Anwardeen (65) died hours after being brought back to Madurai Central Prison following three days of CB-CID interrogation on August 7. He was suffering from paralysis affecting the right side of his body, diabetes and high blood pressure. He developed chest pain in prison that night and died while prison officials were taking him to GRH for treatment.