In a chilling daylight murder, a Village Administrative Officer (VAO) in Tamil Nadu was allegedly assaulted with weapons and killed while he was on duty in his office on Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Lourdhu Francis (56) was the VAO of Murappanadu in Thoothukudi district which is a region where illegal sand mining takes place, police said.
The role of people involved in illegal sand mining is being suspected as preliminary investigations revealed that he was murdered after the police had registered a case against a sand mining mafia gangster based on the VAO’s complaint, officials said.
Police on Tuesday arrested the gangster and are on the lookout for his associate.
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Francis had on Tuesday gone to a local court to submit evidence in a case and returned to his office.
“Two men had sneaked into the Murappanadu VAO’s office around 12:30pm. With machetes they brutally assaulted Francis,” said a senior police official.
He was rushed to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital where he was put on life support, but he succumbed to his injuries.
{{/usCountry}}He was rushed to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital where he was put on life support, but he succumbed to his injuries.
{{/usCountry}}He is survived by his wife and three children who allege that he had been receiving threats, but he was not given police protection.
Thoothukudi district collector K Senthil Raj said he will investigate the complaint made.
Francis was VAO in Murappanadu for 1.5 years.
“I’ve instructed officials to immediately identify the two men, file an FIR and arrest them,” the collector said.
“I have reported this to the chief minister”, he said.
DMK Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi met the family members on Tuesday evening.
“Action will be taken against those responsible for his death and against anyone for dereliction of duty,” Kanimozhi said.
Chief Minister MK Stalin announced a solatium of ₹1 crore and a government job to be provided for one of Francis’ family members.