Police arrive to evict family from 3-cent property in Kochi; locals protest

Kochi, Kerala: Tension prevailed in Chilavannoor here after local residents blocked police personnel who arrived to evict a family from a house built on a three-cent plot.

Police and a tahsildar reached the spot to carry out the eviction based on an order issued by the Ernakulam Munsiff Court concerning the property registered in the name of Bindu Shaji. The family was reportedly given 30 minutes to vacate the house.

The arrival of residents and political workers to oppose the eviction led to a tense situation at the spot. Police subsequently detained and removed several protesters, along with members of the family.

The police action followed a court verdict in favour of Ravindran, the owner of a neighbouring 62-cent property. Ravindran had approached the court claiming that Bindu, Shaji, their mother and two children were living in a house allegedly constructed illegally on his property.

The Munsiff Court subsequently ruled in Ravindran’s favour, following which the tahsildar arrived on Saturday with police protection to execute the eviction order. Fire and Rescue Services personnel were also present at the spot.

However, Bindu and Shaji claim their family has lived on the property since 1982 and has been paying land tax. They said the land was earlier in the possession of Ravindran’s father, Raghavan, and that legal proceedings, including cancellation of the land’s thandaper (land revenue account), had taken place at the time.

The family alleges that Ravindran concealed the cancellation of the thandaper, subsequently effected a mutation of the property and obtained ownership by approaching the court with forged documents.

Local residents, agricultural workers and political representatives who opposed the eviction echoed the family’s claims. They maintained that the three-cent plot was not part of Ravindran’s property and alleged that the family had been residing on government land.