Members of the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC) appealed to District Collector K.J. Praveen Kumar here on Friday seeking action against an individual who has threatened them and occupied the land given to the differently abled people under various schemes at Melakuyilkudi.

A. Balamurugan, TARATDAC district secretary, said 23 differently abled people who were granted free land under State government schemes in 2024 were affected due to the individual. The sites given to the beneficiaries located at Melakuyilkudi fell under Madurai West Taluk.

A few of the beneficiaries were building houses on the land granted to them, under government assistance schemes like Kalaignar Kanavu Illam Scheme, he added.

He said a powerful individual in the area, notorious for illegally seizing government and private lands to sell to outsiders at exorbitant prices, was actively preventing persons with disabilities from constructing their houses.

“He had earlier damaged doors and other objects at their under-construction houses. Now, he has raised fencing around the houses to prevent further construction work,” Mr. Balamurugan said.

Despite complaints, police officers, who knew the individual personally, continued to allow him go free under the pretext of ‘continuing investigation’, he stated.

The petitioners demanded that the person be booked under the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, for violating the rights of the differently abled people and infringing upon their freedom.