Day after expulsion from AIADMK, 5 land in jail

VELLORE:  A day after five AIADMK functionaries in the district were expelled from the party, a special police team, on Wednesday, arrested them on charges of threatening a realtor over a land deal. Janakiraman (36) of Shenbakkam, on Tuesday, lodged a complaint with the police, in which he stated that he had finalised a deal to purchase a 1.5-acre plot from Udaya Kumar of Kalpudur. When they met for the land registration, Udaya allegedly called off the sale, citing higher price offered by councillor G G Ravi as the reason.Janakiraman alleged that on May 26, Vellore Ward-10 Councillor G G Ravi (47), his aides Thulasiraman (49), Surendran (39), Jaishankar (53), Nithyakumar (36) and Prabhu (49) stormed into his house and threatened him at knife point. They allegedly told him that if he paid them a sum of `7 lakh, he would be allowed to go ahead with the deal. Intimidated by their violent behaviour, Janakiraman lodged a complaint with the Vellore Taluk Police.Acting on the complaint, the police formed a special team comprising ADSP Pattabi, DSPs Balasubramaniam (Vellore), Seetharaman (Tiruvannamalai), Balulla (Polur) and Chandrasekaran (Ambur). On Wednesday, the team arrested five of the six accused. They were later remanded to custody in the Vellore Central Prison. Prabhu is the only accused person who is yet to be arrested.According to police sources, all five men have criminal records and are habitual offenders. G G Ravi, a well-known face before his removal from the AIADMK, has close to 10 cases of land-grabbing and extortion, besides one count of murder registered against him. Similarly, Surendran, the Sathuvachary ward-21 councillor, was tried in two murder cases, besides land fraud charges.