When any sheriff or other officer sells any real estate or present interest in land by virtue of and under any execution or otherwise, it shall be his duty, upon application, to place the purchaser or his agent or attorney in possession of the real estate. To this end, the officer may dispossess the defendant, his heirs, his tenants, or his lessees, vendees, or assignees since the judgment. However, he may not dispossess other persons claiming under an independent title.