The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Charge sheet given to Ponmudi

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Friday, Mar 04, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Charge sheet given to Ponmudi

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, MARCH 3. The former DMK Minister, Ponmudi, and nine others, charged with forging documents and grabbing a Government land at Saidapet and thereby causing a loss of over Rs. 29 lakhs to the Government, were served copies of the chargesheet today.

All the 10 accused persons, including former DMK MLA from Saidapet, Kittu, and a party Municipal Councillor, I. Kennedy, were present in the III Additional Sessions Court here, when the Judge, Ramalingam, served copies on them. The matter was then posted to April 13 for framing of charges.

According to the chargesheet, a 3,630-square feet plot at Sri Nagar Colony in Saidapet was acquired by the Government under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Land Ceiling Act in 1982. In October 2000 the land was allotted to the Triplicane Urban Cooperative Society (TUCS) to open a fair price shop there. In the mean time, in 1998, some of the accused evicted a coolie, who had put up a thatched hut on the land, and forced him to sign on some blank papers. Subsequently, two sale deeds were registered in the Sub-Registrar office at Adyar in December 1998 and April 1999, making it appear that the coolie was the landowner and it had been purchased by Saraswathi, mother-in-law of Mr. Ponmudi, for Rs. 8 lakhs. At the time of registration, another accused impersonated the coolie to sign documents. The chargesheet has lined up 153 prosecution witnesses and 160 documents, and runs to over 3,000 pages.

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