Tiruchy, July 16: The DMK is gearing up to face the spate of land grabbing cases against its functionaries in Tiruchy.
A meeting of the party’s advocates under the State legal wing president will be convened on Saturday to discuss the strategy.
The meet will be held at the party headquarters here. Party’s legal wing president RS Bharathi will preside over the meeting which will discuss the cases threadbare and evolve a legal strategy to face the cases.
The DMK is facing a storm in the Central district as the number of functionaries facing land grabbing cases is reportedly high here. The proposed meeting will send positive signs among the party functionaries in prison that the party machinery is throwing its entire weight behind them. At the moment, the DMK is waging major battles in courts and Tiruchy has become the focal point of the struggle, with a spate of charges against the party functionaries based here. With just a few months to go for the by-poll in the city, the DMK is keen to lift the sagging morale of the party functionaries, who do not seem to be enthusiastic about an electoral fight, which is likely to be thrusted upon them by the party leadership. If the party’s legal wing manages to secure bail for a few top functionaries, it can hope to give a reasonable fight against the ruling AIADMK. Since most of those in prison are field workers, the party needs them to be outside during the by-poll.
Several DMK functionaries, including district deputy secretary Kudamurutti T Sekar, have been booked in various cases. Sekar, who was initially charged with possession of ganja, has been booked under the Goondas Act now. R Arivudainambi, City Corporation zonal chairman, was arrested for claiming ownership of a rented house and the vacant land adjacent together worth Rs1.5 crore. S Selvam (53), Thuraiyur town DMK secretary has been booked on charges of forging documents to grab 9.33 acre agricultural land worth Rs 3.5 crore from two persons. D Srinivasaperumal, Mannachanallur Union DMK council member, is in prison on charges of grabbing 8.24 acres of land worth Rs 1 crore in Ethumalai. A DMK functionary, Maavu Kanagaraj of Kattur, was arrested on charges of grabbing 10.5 cents of land worth `50 lakh from three persons.
—Agencies