Tamil Nadu CB-CID police, which began its probe 15 days ago into the illegal sale of 1.40 acres of land belonging to the Palani Dhandapani Swamy Mutt, arrested four persons on 29 July. The arrested have been identified as D Murugadass (56), the seller of the land; K Velladurai (60) and D Sethupathi, the buyers; and advocate S Anwaruddin (65), who allegedly facilitated the illegal transaction. The four have been booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating, forgery, abetment and criminal conspiracy.
TN: Four held in Rs 100 cr Palani temple land fraud case.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Vellaithurai (60) from Tiruppur, Anwardeen (65) from Dindigul, Murugadas (56) from Villupuram district and Sethupathi of Palani.
Meanwhile, police are actively searching… pic.twitter.com/MYIUYlObD9
— News Arena India (@NewsArenaIndia) July 29, 2026
Meanwhile, police are actively searching for another key suspect, Jeyaprakash, a land broker and document writer from Oddanchatram, who is currently absconding.
Hindu Munnani, in a post on X, claimed that Anwaruddin, who is associated with the DMK legal wing, was the mastermind behind the illegal sale of the Palani temple land.
பழனி கோவில் நில முறைகேடு!
மூன்று பேர் கைது..பழனி ஆலயத்தின் நிலமோசடி பத்திரப்பதிவு விவகாரத்தில் திமுக வழக்கறிஞர் அன்வர்தீன் மூளையாக செயல்பட்டுள்ளார் என்றும், பல ஆண்டுகளாக இது சம்பந்தமான வழக்கை அவரே நடத்தி வந்துள்ளார் என்றும் செய்திகள் வந்துள்ளன. மேலும் அவருடன் சேர்ந்து இந்த… pic.twitter.com/y9Zo0VM699
— Hindu Munnani (@hindumunnani_tn) July 29, 2026
The alleged attempt to grab the prime 1.40-acre property belonging to the Arulmigu Dhandayudapani Swamy Temple (Palani Mutt), valued at around ₹100 crore, reportedly involved fraudulent registration, forged documents and collusion by a Sub-Registrar. The property was allegedly sold for just ₹2 crore.
According to media reports, on the same day the Mutt land sale was registered, another government land transaction involving property reportedly worth ₹60 crore was also registered by the same Sub-Registrar. He executed a settlement deed in favour of his son Manoj Kumar. He also allegedly entered into a sale agreement on the same day with a BJP functionary to sell 55 cents of government land for a consideration of ₹20 lakh, although the same property was valued at ₹2.67 crore in the gift settlement deed.
Meanwhile, temple activist T.R. Ramesh, in a post on X, stated that the Executive Officer of Sri Vishveshwara Swamy Temple in Nallur village, Tiruppur Taluk, had written to the Tiruppur Sub-Registrar directing that no document registration be carried out in respect of the temple’s 218.41 acres of land.
He said A.R. Shanmugasundaram challenged the communication before the Madras High Court, which set aside the Executive Officer’s letter and directed registration of Shanmugasundaram’s land. The temple subsequently filed an appeal before the Madras High Court on 10 September 2025.
Ramesh further stated that the appeal came up for hearing on 29 July 2026 before Justices Jayachandran and Smt. Mala. According to his post, former Special Government Pleader for the HR&CE Department Arun Natarajan appeared for the temple. He said the Bench held that the Executive Officer’s communication to the District Registrar was valid and that document registration should not be carried out for 213 acres of temple land. Regarding the remaining five acres, the court directed the temple to approach the civil court and take appropriate steps to recover the land. Ramesh thanked the temple administration for defending the temple’s property rights.
In Nallur village of Tiruppur Taluk, the Executive Officer of Sri Vishveshwara Swamy Temple had given a letter to the Tiruppur Sub-Registrar stating that no document registration should be carried out in respect of the 218.41 acres of land belonging to the temple.
Opposing this… pic.twitter.com/xKqfmYj4dX
— trramesh (@trramesh) July 29, 2026
In another post, Ramesh criticised the creation of two new posts in the HR&CE Department. He alleged that whenever Kumaragurubaran headed HR&CE affairs, legal provisions were violated. He claimed that during 2021 and 2022, several provisions of the Tamil Nadu HR&CE Act and Rules were violated in matters relating to temple surplus funds, temple properties, renovation of ancient temples and the purchase of Toyota vehicles using temple funds. He further alleged that Kumaragurubaran had again violated the Act by appointing two IAS officers as Additional Commissioners in the HR&CE Department.
Whenever Thiru Kumaragurubaran IAS @kgbias is in the helm of the affairs of Hindu Temples and Religious Endowments, you can expect him to regularly violate the law.
When he was the Commissioner of @tnhrcedept in 2021 and 2022, he violated quite a few provisions of the… pic.twitter.com/hcyE0ja6tS
— trramesh (@trramesh) July 29, 2026
Ramesh also questioned former HR&CE Minister P.K. Sekarbabu, asking whether Kumaragurubaran had informed him that IAS cadre officers could not be appointed as Additional Commissioners in the HR&CE Department. He claimed that continuing Kumaragurubaran in HR&CE affairs amounted to continuing “DMK rule in temple matters”.
