Three temples built on state highways land demolished near Erode

Erode: Officials demolished three temples and three shops built on a piece of land belonging to state highways department near Sathyamangalam in Erode district on Tuesday.

There was a heavy police presence as locals had opposed the demolition of Muthu Mariamman, Vinayakar and Karupparayan temples and three shops selling puja items.

Sathyamangalam tahsildar Sakthivel told reporters that villagers of Thimmaiyan Pudur had built the temples on state highway land around 10 years ago.

A few years ago, the department moved the Madras high court for evicting the encroachers, he said. The court had directed the revenue department to evict encroachers with the support of police, he said.

Sathyamangalam sub-division DSP Saravanan headed the police team deployed during the eviction. The eviction drive went off peacefully.

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