CHENNAI: Tension prevailed at Kilpauk on Sunday afternoon when a pawn shop owner attempted to demolish a house at the Professor Subramanian Street by forcing the residents out. Police personnel allegedly stood guard as the pawnbroker tried to evict a family that included a senior citizen and an infant. The residents, however, stood fast and claimed that the shop owner carried only a construction order and not an eviction one. Later, a lawyer representing them spoke to the police and stopped the eviction, but not before their things were thrown out on the road.Shenbagavalli and family was reportedly threatened to leave the house. “They removed the thatched roof of the house and threatened us to leave. This is our house. I purchased it and we have been living here for many years,” claimed Shenbagavalli. The 67-year-old’s daughter-in-law Muthukaliamma and her one-year-old baby Devikarumari were present at the house when the incident took place. The men of the house -- Chellaiya (71) and his son Kalairajan -- were away at that time.Shenbagavalli claimed that she purchased the 1,500 square feet house in 1993 and later mortgaged it with a city-based benefit fund company for `2.5 lakh in 1994 as she wanted money for the family’s lorry business. Later, the company closed due to loss. Before that, the company illegally sold the house to a pawn shop owner in the city, she said.“I filed a suit in the court against the benefit fund company and the pawn shop owner,” said Shenbagavalli. Later, the pawn shop owner also filed a suit claiming that the property belonged to him.“The pawnbroker has now got an order without mentioning anything about the previous pending cases and not including Shenbagavalli in it. It is only an order for construction and not the one for eviction,” said Shenbagavalli’s lawyer Pachaimuthu.The residents alleged that despite seeking police protection and submitting details of ownership for the house, the police threatened them and forced them to leave.
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