CHENNAI: Tension prevailed outside the head office of Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TNTJ) on Armenian Street on Wednesday after officials from the Custodian for Enemy Property for India (CEPI) under the ministry of home affairs (MHA) arrived to take over the building under the Enemy Property Act.
Police sources said the officials arrived from the CEPI office in Mumbai and had taken local revenue authorities along with police to seal the premises.
“TNTJ head office has been functioning out of the building for the past 12 years and we have been paying an annual rent of more than Rs 4 lakh to the authorities,” said Abdul Rahman, state vice-president, TNTJ.
‘Enemy property’ refers to properties and companies of those who took Pakistani nationality after Partition and also in the wake of India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971. Also, properties left behind by people who went to China after the 1962 war are called ‘enemy property’.
CEPI is the custodian of these properties. According to the MHA website, there are 9,406 enemy properties (9,280 belonging to Pakistani nationals and 126 of Chinese nationals) that have been declared and are vested with the Custodian of Enemy Property for India. Reports estimated that the value of these properties over Rs 1 lakh crore. There are 5,866 properties pending verification, the website stated.
After the news spread, office bearers of TNTJ and several other members arrived at the premises from different parts of the city and protested, opposing sealing of the building.
“We were not issued any notice from the authorities. This is our state headquarters and our Jamaath volunteers were active in all relief work during natural disasters and we do a lot of service. So we requested the officials to give us time. We are looking at a legal recourse on the issue,” said Abdul Rahman.
A senior police officer said CEPI officials approached the Chennai collector saying the office was being used for several purposes other than the entitled one. However, the officials conducted inquiries and did not seal the building, said police.