Chennai: A section of residents in Vijayalakshmipuram at Ambattur in the city recently alleged that a police officer had encroached a piece of public land.
However, Additional Superintendent of Police, Thillai Natarajan has denied the accusations posed against him terming them as false.
Recently, residents of Vijayalakshmipuram gathered to condemn the alleged act of the officer and said he was trying to encroach a part of M C Raja Street.
Speaking to ‘News Today’ Alexander, a resident of Singaram Street, said,”I have been living here for the past 40 years and Natarajan has been creating a ruckus for a long time now. It still has not stopped.”
He said it was only when Natarajan had started constructing a compound wall for securing ‘his’ land that the public got to know about the problem. Few days ago, the policeman had resumed contruction work and residents wanted to halt it.
“What used to be a 26-feet wide road has been shrunk to more than half its size to a 10 feet lane. Twenty years ago, the ASP claimed that the land belonged to him and began encroaching the street. More than 100 residents rely on the street to reach to the other side, which incidentally can be done only by traversing through the encroached part,” claimed Rajasekaran, another resident.
Talking about the difficulties, he added,”A few days ago, a woman with labour pains had to travel 1.4 kilometers more to reach the main road as the ambulance was not allowed to come through the road.”
“We have forwarded a letter to the Tahsildhar requesting to mark the area and decide if it is a public property or entitled to Natarajan. The compound wall construction work will not take place until we receive further orders,” commented the Area Engineer of Ward 80.
Meanwhile, speaking to ‘News Today’the ASP said,”The patta has been registered in my name. It belongs to me.”
When asked about the inspection that is supposedly set to take place by the authorities concerned, the ASP added,”The Tahsildhar and the AE can probe into the matter. If required, I can provide them the documents.”
The case remains mysterious as both the parties are trying to play the victim card. The Tahsildhar and the AE have taken up the case for further inspection.