Locals prevent Katpadi co-op township officials from entering temple land

The cooperative had put up a board on July 2 stating that the land belonged to it and that action would be taken against those entering it. Trouble started when men from the cooperative township erected fence posts on one side of the land on Wednesday night and returned on Thursday morning to string barbed wires.

When the word spread, a huge crowd gathered leading to heated arguments between some board members of the cooperative township and the public as the latter accused the cooperative members from attempting to usurp land belonging to a religious place of worship. Soon, the cooperative members were forced to retreat hastily.

AIADMK district deputy secretary SRK Appu said, “I gave an open invitation to local DMK stalwart Duraimurugan to come and help the temple retain its land.” A prominent DMK lawyer who preferred anonymity said, “We have all documents to prove that the land was given to the temple in 1974. The temple was also given a share worth Rs 100 in the cooperative township in the same year.”

Displaying a survey sketch of the area, retired VAO Venketesan said, “The cooperative township’s claim is dubious as the survey numbers have been changed at whim.”

Suresh Kumar, a resident, said, “When the temple authorities wanted to hand over the land to build a temple for the late Kirubananda Variar, it fell through as the temple was built elsewhere and hence the land was returned to the temple. If at all the cooperative township was right in claiming ownership why are officials operating on the sly at night when they could have done the same during day with police protection.”

Local community leaders have sought an appointment with collector A Shanmugasundaram to ensure justice.