1. Thoothukudi VAO hacked to death by sand mafia; CM announces ₹1 crore relief
Lourdhu Francis, a 56-year-old Village Administrative Officer (VAO) of Murappanadu in Thoothukudi district was brutally hacked to death after two armed men assaulted him at his office this afternoon.
As Francis was reportedly informing the police and his higher-ups about the illicit sand miners operating in the area, he had earned the enmity of an illegal sand mining mafia. Kin of the deceased VAO alleged that he had been facing threats from the mafia and was not given police protection, even though he had asked for it.
