Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | RTI activist murdered in Kolathur by land mafia by A Selvaraj

RTI activist murdered in Kolathur by land mafia by A Selvaraj

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jan 11, 2012   modified Modified on Jan 11, 2012

Police have booked former DMKlegislator B Ranganathan as the prime accused in the murder of a man who was fighting against land-grabbers in Avadi on the outskirts of Chennai. 

S Bhuvaneswaran, 38, was hacked to death in the presence of his four-year-old daughter in Kolathur on Tuesday. Bhuvaneswaran had filed RTI applications to retrieve titles on about 18 acres of land belonging to his family and other acquaintances after the plots were forcibly occupied by a gang, allegedly led by the former DMK MLA. He was in the process of filing more RTI applications to help other owners strengthen their claims on roughly 82 acres of encroached land in Veerapuram near Avadi. 

Bhuvaneswaran, who lived in Gandhi Nagar in Kolathur, was on a motorcycle with his daughter on Tuesday around 12.15pm when two bike riders intercepted them on Fifth Cross Street near his house. One of them grabbed the girl. The other got off the bike and hacked Bhuvaneswaran with a sickle. They abandoned the child on the road and fled, police said. Neighbours called the family who took Bhuvaneswaran to a nearby hospital and later to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him "dead on arrival." 

West Chennai joint commissioner of police K Shankar and Villivakkam assistant commissioner of police K Kannan visited the murder scene. Preliminary inquiries revealed it was a murder allegedly instigated in connection with the land encroachment. 

The prime accused, Ranganathan, is among several former DMK MLAs and ministers who have been booked on land-grabbing charges after the AIADMK government took over. Ranganathan was arrested in August 2011 on a similar land-grab charge but released on bail. Subsequently, he was detained under the stringent Goondas Act. 

Bhuvaneswaran's father Siva, in his complaint, said Ranganathan could be behind the killing. Siva, who worked as a ticket examiner in the State Express Transport Corporation, was given power of attorney by a friend, Madhavan, for a 30-acre property in Morea village in Veerapuram near Avadi. Siva said he took voluntary retirement from SETC to look after the property. He later sold 20 of the 30 acres and gave a share of the profits to Madhavan. Later, Madhavan gave the remaining 10 acres to Siva as a gift. 

Siva said a group of people allegedly backed by Ranganathan had encroached on 100 acres of land, including 30 acres belonging to him and Madhavan. Bhuvaneswaran had fought a legal case, filed many RTI applications and staged demonstrations to attract the government's attention. He managed to recover more than 18 acres and had filed more RTIs to retrieve the rest, police said. 

Kolathur police have registered a murder case and launched a hunt for the accused. 


The Times of India, 11 January, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/RTI-activist-murdered-in-Kolathur-by-land-mafia/articleshow/11443449.cms


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close