Illegal sale of Palani math land: CB-CID arrests three persons

A fortnight after the CB-CID began probing the illegal sale of 1.40 acres of land belonging to Dhandapani Swamy Math in Palani, the first arrests have been made in the multi-crore land transaction, with three accused arrested on Tuesday (July 28, 2026).

The arrested accused were identified as D. Murugadass (56) of Villupuram, who had sold the land; K. Vellaidurai (60) of Tiruppur, one of the two buyers; and S. Anwardeen (65) of Palani, who had reportedly facilitated the deal. They have been apprehended under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating, forgery, abetment, and criminal conspiracy.

Trouble over temple land in Palani

The parcel of land, which has been under the administration of the Joint Commissioner/Executive Officer of the Dhandayuthapani Swamy Temple in Palani, is being used as a free parking lot for vehicles of devotees visiting the temple. The CB-CID registered a case on July 16 after the temple superintendent lodged a complaint against a few people not attached to the Math for having sold the land.

The investigating agency has been interrogating various persons, including officials from the Departments of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) and Registration, for the past two weeks.

The arrests were made shortly after former Palani MLA K.S.N. Venugopalu Senapathi of the AIADMK filed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking a CBI probe into the case on Tuesday. In his petition before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, Mr. Senapathi, a former trustee of the Dhandayuthapani Swamy Temple, complained that not even a single person had been arrested so far in the case.

He contended that the investigating agency, as well as the official from the Department of Registration who is an accused in the case, were under the control of the Tamil Nadu government and hence sought a probe by the national investigating agency