Land grab: Son of ex-ministers assistant held

DINDIGUL: The son of Thangavel—an assistant of former DMK minister I Periyasamy—was on arrested on Tuesday for allegedly encroaching upon government land and operating a granite quarry there.Ashokumar (36) had applied for a permit to the district administration on December 7, 2007, for operating a quarry for 10 years on a five-acre land at Viralipatti village in Nilakkottai block of Dindigul district. He had paid `10.5 lakh as advance and obtained the permit.Meanwhile, Sivaji, deputy director of minerals, lodged a complaint with SP A Chandrasekaran that Ashokumar had encroached upon 4.48 acres of poromboke land adjoining the plot, for which permit was granted, and was quarrying granite there.The SP directed the district crime branch to probe the complaint. Inspector Murugan of the crime branch arrested Ashokumar.Complaint Against Periyasamy WithdrawnMeanwhile, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court disposed of the plea made by former DMK minister I Periysamy in a land grab case after the complaint was withdrawn.Soundararjan of Chennai had lodged a complaint with the crime branch in Dindigul that Periyasamy and some others had usurped his land in Gujiliamparai. Following this, Periyasamy, N Raja and Thangavelu had filed petitions before the bench seeking anticipatory bail.