C Shivakumar PERAMBALUR:

The state machinery was used to procure land belonging to about 160 villagers, including 60 Dalits, in Naranamangalam village in Perambalur district after they reportedly spurned offers from former Union telecom minister A Raja to sell their land for a project by tyre-manufacturing company, MRF, according to a signed petition by the villagers. The villagers told Express that after they fended off an attempted acquisition of their lands by the district administration in 2007, they were summ­oned by then Union Telecom Minister A Raja who urged them to sell their land to MRF for a 'good pri­ce'. He reportedly said MRF would give them jobs too. When they refused, Raja allegedly threatened would get the land with the help of the state machinery and that they would only be paid a sum decided by the government. Soon after, the villagers faced an ordeal as Green House Promoters, owned by Raja's aide Sadiq Basha and the minister's family members, entered the scene. Police vehicles began making rounds of the village, the locals were picked up and taken to the office of the Superintendent of Police office or the district collector and asked to transfer their title deeds to Green House Promoters. A few non-Dalits were even arrested under the SC/ST Act and released abruptly once their land was transferred to Green House Promoters. What's more, in cases where the man of the house was working abroad, even women were intimidated by the authorities and forced to sign the documents over. When Express cont­acted district collector M Vijay Kumar, he sa­id there might have been some instances where force was used. "I am ordering an inq­uiry, and action will be taken..." However, he ruled out handing back the land to the villagers. "This is a good project for the district which is dry and backward. More than 435 acres of land have been procured for MRF to start a unit for passenger and truck radials, besides another 150 acres for a trial track. Production is expected to be­gin by April or May next year." The villagers on Monday faxed a signed petition to the PM and the National Human Rights Commission to intervene and take action against Raja, Basha, then district collector Anil Meshram, then superintendent of police Prem Anand Sinha and other officials.

IN its hurry to acquire land for the `900 crore MRF project at Naranamangalam village in Perambalur, the district administration bulldozed a woman whose husband was working abroad to sign on a written piece of paper in front of the then district collector, Anil Meshram, according to a signed petition from a villager.

“I was summoned by the officials of the collectorate and when I went there the collector wanted me to sign a paper,” alleged Roja, a seventh standard dropout.

The document, which was obtained by her husband M Chandrahassan by invoking the RTI Act, states: “The land belongs to my husband. Since he is abroad, I am willing to sell it to MRF as the neighbours have sold it at a high price. I want additional price for the land as it is the only source for my income. I also want a job for my fam

ily members in MRF plant.” In his petition, Chandrahassan says his wife never agreed to sell the 2.48 acres of land nor had he authorised her to do so. In any case, the paper she signed was illegal as nobody else could sign it on his behalf.

When he was working in Riyadh, collectorate officials summoned his wife and said “MRF wants your land, give it to them.”. She said “my husband is in Riyadh. It will take 18 months for him to return. When he does, I will inform him about it.” But the authorities were impatient. “If you do not sign, we will invoke the land acquisition Act and acquire the land. If we do that, you won’t get a single paisa,” they warned.

Later, Village Administrative Officer (VAO) Iyaamperumal brought her to the collector’s office. She was forced to sign on a written paper.

When asked what was written on the paper, collector Meshram allegedly refused to explain, said her husband

in the petition to the National Human Rights Commission. “I don’t know what was written on it,” she told Express.

Finally, it dawned on the officials that the coerced letter would not stand legal scrutiny as it was not signed by the property owner. So, the government invoked the land acquisition Act to acquire it. Chandrahassan is yet to get compensation for the land and is now back in Perambalur without a job. “I used to grow drumstick, ladies finger and other vegetables. But now we don’t have land. I don’t want compensation. I want my land back. It provided us with social security,” he added.

In a separate incident, another woman was allegedly threatened by real estate officials and a letter was sent to her husband Thangaraj working abroad to sign documents.

“I was afraid since my wife was all alone in the village, so I acceded to their request. The real estate agents used to hound her every day

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