Tom Zachariah, the head of Spirit in Jesus sect, accused of land grab at Pappathichola in Munnar. ManoramaThiruvananthapuram: Tom Zachariah, the preacher who leads the prayer group at the heart of the Munnar land grab controversy, found himself deeper in trouble as documents surfaced revealing his family's role in a large-scale encroachment scam.
Tom Zachariah's brother Bobby even barged into a village office and walked away with land records after intimidating the village officer 10 years ago, according to a first information report filed by the police. According to the FIR filed on June 6, 2007, Bobby is accused of threatening to kill the Chinnakanal village officer and forcibly taking away copies of land assignment records.
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The accused later forged the documents to claim large swathes of government land for himself and his brothers. Bobby was accused of attempt to murder. The FIR, however, got a quiet burial thanks to the political influence of the brothers, revenue officers said.
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Bobby had taken away copies of land assignment files bearing numbers 65/77, 1622/62 and 118/70. He had no right over these records, the officers said. Bobby, along with father Zacharia Joseph, and brothers Jimmy and Tom the preacher are in illegal possession of more than 1,000 acres of government land.
Most of this land was meant to be disbursed among the tribal community and landless people in the state.
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The family got away with the land grab during V.S. Achuthanandan’s term thanks to their connections in the ruling CPM. They also faced a Crime Branch investigation later during the term of the Congress-led government but they managed to stay afloat thanks to their influence and money power, sources said.
Zachariah’s Spirit in Jesus ministry had put up a gigantic iron cross on top of the ecologically fragile Pappathichola near Munnar. A team of the district administration razed the cross and other illegal constructions last week but the action was quickly denounced by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
