Officers of Revenue Department, with the help of police, cleared the tents put up by residents of Satyamangala village on government land as part of the protest to demand land for building houses, on Saturday.
A few families had put up tents in a hurry on Friday night on the land at survey no. 254 and 244 of Satyamangala, reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes beneficiaries. However, the land has not been granted to beneficiaries due to objections raised by a few, who had also moved court.
Officers of Satyamangala Gram Panchayat and Hassan tahsildar learnt about the development and rushed to the spot on Saturday. They also called the police to the spot as tension prevailed for some time following arguments between the villagers and officers. The officers told the villagers that putting up tents before the land was sanctioned to them was illegal and such an act would attract punishment.
However, the people maintained that they had been living in rented houses for years. The district administration had been delaying allotment of land, despite reserving it for them years ago. Finally, the officers succeeded in convincing the people, who removed the tents.
Shivashankarappa, tahsildar, said the land had been reserved for SC/STs of the village. The district administration had held meetings on granting the land. However, a few from the same community had claimed that the land belonged to them and moved the court. The matter could be resolved once the matter was cleared in court.