Kerala: Court rejects IAS officer’s stand in land grabbing case

Last week, the CBI had grilled Sooraj, who is under suspension on charges of amassing wealth disproportionate, to his known source of income.

Earlier, the CBI had arrested Salim Raj, a former security guard of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, in connection with the land grabbing case at Kalamassery near Kochi. Raj’s relatives had tried to take illegal possession of 116 cents of land worth Rs 25 crore at Kalamassery. The investigating agency had found that Raj had abused his clout as Chandy’s close aide and conspired with his relatives to grab the land.

Sooraj, as the land revenue commissioner, had allegedly helped Raj and his relatives to seize the land. He had ordered to cancel the mutation of the property in the name of the original owners.