Four Arrested by Tamil Nadu CB-CID in Palani Temple Land Fraud Case
The Tamil Nadu Crime Branch-CID (CB-CID) police arrested four individuals on July 29, 2026, in connection with the illegal sale of 1.40 acres of land belonging to the Palani Dhandapani Swamy Mutt. The arrests come 15 days after the investigative agency commenced its probe into the land transaction.
The arrested individuals have been identified as D. Murugadass, 56, of Villupuram district, who is the alleged seller of the land; K. Velladurai, 60, of Tiruppur, and D. Sethupathi of Palani, who are the buyers; and advocate S. Anwaruddin, 65, of Dindigul, who allegedly facilitated the transaction. The accused have been booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating, forgery, abetment, and criminal conspiracy. Police are actively searching for an absconding suspect, Jeyaprakash, a land broker and document writer from Oddanchatram.
Allegations of Political Links and Sub-Registrar Collusion
The prime property, belonging to the Arulmigu Dhandayudapani Swamy Temple (Palani Mutt), is valued at approximately ₹100 crore. However, it was reportedly sold for just ₹2 crore through fraudulent registration, forged documents, and the alleged collusion of a Sub-Registrar. Following the arrests, the Hindu Munnani organisation claimed in a social media post that Anwaruddin, who is associated with the DMK legal wing, was the mastermind behind the illegal transaction and had been handling related legal cases for several years.
According to media reports, the same Sub-Registrar registered another government land transaction on the very same day. This second transaction involved property valued at ₹60 crore, registered as a settlement deed in favour of the Sub-Registrar's son, Manoj Kumar. Additionally, the official allegedly entered into a sale agreement on the same day with a BJP functionary to sell 55 cents of government land for ₹20 lakh, despite that property being valued at ₹2.67 crore in the gift settlement deed.
Madras High Court Rules on Tiruppur Temple Land
In a separate temple property matter, temple activist T.R. Ramesh shared details regarding a legal dispute involving Sri Vishveshwara Swamy Temple in Nallur village, Tiruppur Taluk. The temple's Executive Officer had previously written to the Tiruppur Sub-Registrar directing that no document registration be executed for 218.41 acres of land belonging to the temple.
This directive was challenged by A.R. Shanmugasundaram before the Madras High Court, which initially set aside the Executive Officer's letter and ordered the registration of the land. The temple administration subsequently filed an appeal on September 10, 2025. The appeal was heard on July 29, 2026, before a bench comprising Justice Jayachandran and Justice Smt. Mala, with former Special Government Pleader for the HR&CE Department, Arun Natarajan, representing the temple.
The High Court bench ruled that the Executive Officer's communication to the District Registrar was valid, directing that no document registration should be carried out for 213 acres of the temple land. For the remaining five acres, the court instructed the temple administration to approach a civil court to take appropriate recovery steps.
Criticism of HR&CE Department Appointments
Ramesh also raised concerns regarding the administration of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department. He criticised the creation of two new posts within the department, alleging that legal provisions are regularly bypassed under the leadership of Kumaragurubaran, IAS.
Ramesh claimed that during 2021 and 2022, when Kumaragurubaran served as the HR&CE Commissioner, multiple provisions of the Tamil Nadu HR&CE Act and Rules were violated. These alleged violations concerned temple surplus funds, temple properties, the renovation of ancient temples, and the purchase of Toyota vehicles using temple funds. He further alleged that the recent appointment of two IAS officers as Additional Commissioners in the HR&CE Department violates the established Act, questioning whether former HR&CE Minister P.K. Sekarbabu was informed of these statutory limitations.
