Encroached temple land of over 3,000 sqft worth over ₹100 crore was recovered in Salem following relentless efforts by Hindu Munnani and Thiru Thondar Peravai (Saiva Devotees Forum).
The 3.60-acre land is located at Salem-Bengaluru National Highway in Thiruvakavandanur area which had been donated by a devotee by the name of Krishnan Chettiar in 1899. It had been given to the Venugopala Swamy Temple located at Chinnakkadai Street in Salem. Over the years, a plethora of establishments and stalls came up in this land, encroaching and illegally claiming right to temple property.
The temple administration later filed a case at the Madras High Court which passed an order to evict the illegal encroachments. On December 24, the temple administration, members from the Hindu Munnani and Saiva Devotees Forum came down to the land armed with the court’s order. The shops located on the property were sealed.
“As far as over 80 houses are concerned, encroachers have been served notice through court to evict within 15days” Hindu Munnani functionary Santhosh was quoted saying in a report by the Organiser. The Saiva Devotees Forum President Allikuttai Radhakrishnan said that the encroached temple lands in Salem district would be retrieved with the help of courts and would be handed over to the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department.
Police security had been posted in order to prevent any mishap or law and order issue from taking place as the case was ongoing in court. However, some of the encroachers quarreled with the government officials and temple authorities when they came to seal the shops near AVR Roundtana. A police team led by Suramangalam Assistant Commissioner Nagarajan came to the spot to bring the situation under control.
Seven shops were sealed in the first phase and the eviction drive is likely to continue in the coming days.
A similar incident took place in Chennai, wherein land belonging to the Kapaleeswarar temple had been recovered by the same organizations.
Hindu Munnani functionary Santhosh said that 3,000 square feet land worth ₹4.5 crore has been taken into custody now with the remaining portion of the ₹100 crore land yet to be retried.
(With inputs from Organiser)
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons, Dinamani