Land grab: 22 held for assault on complainant

HOSUR: The Krishnagiri district police on Monday arrested 22 persons allegedly for attacking a person, who came to submit a complaint against them in connection with a land grab case, near the Superintendent of Police office here.One Syed Kasim Sahib owns two-and-a-half acres of farmland in Thogarapalli village. His son Mohammed was managing the land till he left abroad a few years ago. Venkatesan, an assistant in Primary Education Office, had a land adjacent to that of Kasim’s. Venkatesan, with the help of real estate broker Murugan had managed to register Kasim’s property in the name of his wife Chitra two years back. Kasim and his son Mohammed lodged a complaint with the local police. However, no action was  taken on the plaint. Meanwhile, the district police formed a separate wing to go into land grab cases. On July 28, Kasim and his son lodged a complaint with the Superintendent of Police about their land grabbed by the adjacent land owners. Based on instructions from the SP, the Crime Branch summoned both the parties for an enquiry. Following an enquiry, both the parties came out from the SP office. Suddenly Venkatesan and his gang members attacked Mohammed with lethal weapons in the premises of SP office.Escaping from the mob, Mohammed took shelter  in the SP’s office. Police arrested 22 persons including Venkatesh and Murugan in this connection.