Karaikal deputy collector held

KARAIKAL: A deputy collector of Karaikal was arrested on Friday in connection with a case of selling temple land with forged documents. Four others were earlier arrested for allegedly illegally selling the land parcel as house plots and cheating the public of crores of rupees.

Sources say the group forged papers on the market value of the land parcel, near JIPMER Medical College, under the administration of Parvatheeswarar temple in Karaikal town and sold them to unsuspecting buyers earlier this year. “G Johnson, the deputy collector (revenue) was getting benefits as his signature and seal were used in documents, and hence he has been arrested,” a senior police official said.