The Tiruchy City Crime Branch has booked six people, including a DMK functionary and a former sub-registrar, for allegedly registering 7,515 sq ft of Srirangam temple land using forged documents.
The FIR was registered on September 13 based on a complaint by S Sivaramkumar, joint commissioner of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam. Srirangam DMK area secretary M Ramkumar is among those named in the case.
According to the FIR, the disputed parcel is part of a larger 5.87-acre property belonging to the temple. A DMK office is currently functioning on the 7,515 sq ft plot, police said.
The FIR alleges that Padma Rengarajan of Chennai and Vijaya Krishnasamy of Bengaluru sold the land to Ramkumar for Rs 1.45 crore in December 2022, claiming they had rights over it.
R Soundararajan, the brother of Padma Rengarajan and Vijaya Krishnasamy, subsequently claimed a share in the property and executed a sale deed in Ramkumar’s favour after receiving Rs 72.5 lakh, according to the FIR.
Venkata Varadhan later claimed a share and executed another sale deed in Ramkumar’s favour for Rs 72.5 lakh. The three transactions involved a total consideration of Rs 2.9 crore, the FIR said.
The police have alleged that the accused knew the property belonged to the temple and colluded to create documents showing private ownership. The then sub-registrar allegedly registered the sale and correction deeds despite receiving communications from the temple administration objecting to transactions involving the property.
The case has been registered under IPC sections relating to cheating, forgery, use of forged documents and criminal conspiracy. The investigation is underway.
The temple administration has said historical records establish its ownership of the larger property. These include records dating to 1866, as well as documents from 1910 and 1930, according to Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Minister S Ramesh.
Speaking to reporters in Tiruchy on Saturday, September 19, Ramesh alleged that Ramkumar had used forged documents to transfer the temple land in his name. He said the land is currently worth around Rs 50 crore.
Ramesh also alleged that a certificate stating that the original title deed was missing had been obtained from a police station in Puducherry and subsequently used for the registration. The minister said the temple administration had earlier objected to transactions involving the property.
The minister questioned how a local party functionary could allegedly register temple property without the knowledge of senior officials or political leaders. He said the investigation would establish whether others were involved.
“Such a major fraud could not have been carried out without the knowledge of department officials and the minister by an ordinary area secretary; hence an investigation is under way into those behind the matter,” Ramesh said.
Ramkumar has denied any wrongdoing. He said the land belonged to private individuals and that the registration was carried out properly after the sub-registrar verified the documents.
He also said the dispute was already pending before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court and questioned why a police complaint had been filed while the matter was before the court.