Kerala’s Revenue Department has ordered an inquiry into allegations that Transport Minister Thomas Chandy encroached upon land belonging to the Mathur Devaswom in Alappuzha distrct.
Revenue Minister E Chadrasekharan called for the probe on Friday, a day after the office of Asianet TV channel’s Alappuzha bureau was attacked for reporting on Chandy’s alleged involvement in land encroachment.
The inquiry, which will be headed by Land Board Director AC Latha, will look into the complaint that the Transport Minister has encroached upon 34 acres of land belonging to the Devaswom.
"The allegation is that the minister had bought the land which has no proper legal documents and no title deeds. The owner of the land had illegally taken possession of the land," Chandrasekharan's office told TNM.
The source added, “Whether Chandy was aware that the land was illegally encroached upon without documents at the time he was buying it will come under the purview of the investigation.”
The Revenue Minister has directed that the report on the Devaswom land encroachment be submitted in two days. Chandy also faces allegations that he encroached upon a lake in Alappuzha to build a plush resort.
According to reports Mathur Devaswom had handed over a complaint of the encroachment to Alappuzha District Collector TV Anupama.
On Wednesday, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had sought legal advice on the complaint of the minister's land encroachment for building the resort. The complaint was filed by Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala.
Thomas Chandy, a businessman-turned-politician and the richest legislator in the Kerala Assembly with assets worth Rs. 92.37 crore, was sworn in as Transport Minister in April. The Nationalist Congress Party leader is representing Kuttanad constituency in Alappuzha. He got the ministerial berth after his party colleague AK Saseendran resigned following a sting operation carried out by Mangalam TV. NCP has only two MLAs.