2 More Officials Suspended in Palani Mutt Land Fraud Case
CB-CID probe widens as suspended officials rise to four in the alleged Rs 100 crore fraudulent land registration case.
The CB-CID has suspended two more registration department officials as part of its probe into the alleged fraudulent registration of 1.40 acres, worth about Rs 100 crore, belonging to the Palani Dhandayuthapani Swamigal Mutt, taking the number of suspended officials in the case to four.
Sub-registrar Balachandar and his office assistant, Sivasankari, were placed under suspension following fresh findings in the investigation.
Earlier, Dindigul district registrar Sasikala and former Palani sub-registrar Justin Manikandan had been suspended, with Manikandan also named as an accused. The disputed sale deed has since been cancelled pursuant to a court order.
According to CB-CID sources, Balachandar, who was transferred from Tiruppur to the Palani sub-registrar’s office in the first week of June, had kept the registration of the mutt land pending after raising objections to the transaction. However, during his leave, Justin Manikandan, temporarily posted to the office, allegedly registered the sale deed without carrying out the mandatory scrutiny of the documents.
Investigators suspect that after resuming duty, Balachandar failed to report the alleged illegal registration despite being aware of it, thereby concealing material facts.
Sivasankari was also suspended for her alleged role in suppressing the irregularities, sources said.
The CB-CID has been questioning Manikandan since July 27 and is also investigating whether similar fraudulent registrations were carried out during his postings at more than 10 other sub-registrar offices, according to police sources.
Four persons have so far been arrested in the case. The interim protection from arrest granted to Manikandan by the Madurai bench of the Madras high court expires on Tuesday, following which the CB-CID is expected to take a decision on his arrest.