'Karaikal temple land scam' tarnished image of Pondy, says Lt Governor

Puducherry, Oct 14 (PTI) Puducherry Lieutenant Governor K Kailashnathan has said that the alleged "Karaikkal temple land scam" had tarnished the image of the union territory and its administration and he was closely monitoring the probe.

A release from Raj Nivas (office of Lt Governor) on Monday said a preliminary enquiry was conducted under the direct supervision of the Karaikkal Collector Manikandan and the Senior Superintendent of Police Manish into the alleged land fraud in which Karaikkal Parvatheeswarar temple lands located in Kovilapathu were sold allegedly by preparing forged documents.

Based on this preliminary enquiry, Deputy Collector of Karaikal (Revenue) Johnson, Deputy Surveyor Renukadevi and a few others have been arrested. The investigation is on, it said.

The release further said that the Lt Governor was closely watching the enquiry as the scam involving the temple land worth several crores of rupees had tarnished the image of the union territory and its administration. He had issued instructions to the District Collector of Karaikal to take utmost care to ensure there was no lapse in the case, it added.

The Lt Governor has told officials that irregularities with regard to temple lands won't be tolerated and the investigation should bring to justice all those involved in the illegal land transaction. He also insisted that government machinery should retrieve the temple lands immediately and hand them over to the temple management.

Kailashnathan asked the officials to collect the details of the land holdings of all the temples through a survey and wanted steps to be taken to effectively manage temple properties.

The Departments of Revenue, Survey, Registration and Hindu Religious Institutions here should exercise vigil to prevent irregularities and awareness should be created on this, he added.

Meanwhile, police sources said that the accused involved in the scam had allegedly created fake documents to illegally sell 180 plots from out of the land of the Parvatheeswarar temple. The police constituted a special investigation team after a complaint was received about the alleged scam which led to the arrest of the Deputy Collector and Deputy Surveyor among a few others.

The opposition AIADMK has urged the government to seek a CBI probe into the alleged land fraud.

The AIADMK Puducherry unit secretary A Anbalagan told PTI on Monday that his party would submit a detailed petition to the Lt Governor to urge him to arrange for a CBI probe as a few bigwigs were involved in this scam.

Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader V Narayanasamy said that there was an increase in illegal grabbing of temple lands and their fraudulent sales under the AINRC-BJP coalition government in the union territory. He wanted an effective investigation to retrieve the lands and to protect temple properties. PTI COR DB KH