KOCHI: Salim Raj, former gunman of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, and nine others were arrested by the CBI in connection with the Kadakampilly and Kalamasserry land fraud cases on Wednesday. Seven persons, including Salim Raj, were held from Thiruvananthapuram and three from Kochi.

The seven accused, who included two officials from the revenue department, were summoned to the CBI office in Thiruvananthapuram and taken into custody. The three revenue department officials in Kochi were also held in a similar fashion.

Besides Salim Raj, those arrested in Thiruvananthapuram are Vidyoday Kumar, Jayaram, Nasar, S.M. Salim, Mohammad Ashraf and Abdul Majeed. The first two are officials of the revenue department while the others are relatives of Salim Raj.

Those arrested in Kochi are Thrikkakkara village officer K.S. Sabu, 53, E. Muard, 49, and E.C. Geevarghese, 47, an upper division clerk at the collectorate. The three officials were held for their alleged participation in the conspiracy to forge documents to usurp 1.16 acres of land at Pathadippalam near Kalamassery belonging to the mother of A.K. Nazar, 48, Anikkattu House, Vaikkom Mohammad Basheer Road in Thrikkakkara.

The case in Kadakampally village in Thiruvananthapuram is also on similar grounds. But the number of people and the total land involved are much higher. Here, Salim Raj and the other accused tried to usurp around 44.5 acres of land belonging to nearly 150 persons by making fake documents with the connivance of the officials in the revenue department.

The two cases had rocked the state with the Opposition alleging that the office of the chief minister had helped the accused in the case. The CBI took over the case following an order of the Kerala High Court in 2014.