Tamil Nadu’s Mining Mafia: Activists Silenced by Violence
Tamil Nadu has seen a spate of cold-blooded murders of activists who oppose mining across categories—whether the mining of stone, granite, river sand, or beach sand. Powerful gangs operate these businesses, concentrated in Madurai, Pudukottai, Tirunelveli, Erode, and Krishnagiri districts, and they deal with all opponents ruthlessly, whether they are residents, activists, whistle-blowers, or officials. There is an enormous amount of money at stake, which ensures that concerns about ecological damage, biosphere disruption, or the loss of livelihoods and habitats barely register.
Frontline studied a list of deaths and found an ominous pattern of targeted violence, official apathy, and impunity for the mining mafia. The first sinister pattern is that monstrous 40 tonne or 60 tonne dumper and tipper trucks are the most common dispensers of death. Paid killers are used sometimes, but most of these mafia-orchestrated murders are staged to look like hit-and-run accidents. In many cases, they are quietly recorded as such, leading to widespread allegations of collusion between the Tamil Nadu Police and the gangs.
The killing of 58-year-old Jagabar Ali, whose story our lead piece records, followed the same script: he was run over by a tipper lorry on January 17, 2025. After offering namaz at a mosque, Ali was returning home on his motorcycle when a truck rammed into him head-on on an otherwise deserted street. He was killed instantaneously.
Also Read | Why the Centre cancelled the tungsten mining project in Madurai
Ali is the latest in a growing list of deaths of those who fight the mining mafias. R. Jeganathan, a farmer from Kuppam in Karur district, who had demanded the closure of illegal stone quarries in his neighbourhood, was run over by a quarry truck near K. Paramathi in September 2022.
The incident took place one day after the quarry, located at Kalipalayam village near Kuppam, was shut down. The truck that rammed into his scooter and killed him on the spot belonged to the same quarry.
R. Jeganathan, a farmer from Karur, who had demanded the closure of illegal stone quarries in his neighbourhood, was run over by a truck in 2022.
| Photo Credit:
By Special Arrangement
Activists such as R.S.A Mughilan, convenor of the Tamil Nadu Environment Protection Movement, as well as Jeganathan’s family and friends staged a series of protests in Karur demanding a probe. The police finally arrested three people, including the quarry owner, detaining them under the Goondas Act.
In 2022, an activist named Mani was run over by a lorry at Kavalkinaru in Tirunelveli district. The case was closed after being labelled an accident. On May 12, 2024, Natarajan, a farmer from Sarkar Kathankanni village near Uthukuli in Tiruppur district, narrowly escaped a similar attempt on his life.
The Uthukuli Police initially refused to even register a complaint. After five hours of persistence, the police gave Natarajan a CSR (Community Service Register) copy. When there were further protests, the police reluctantly registered an FIR on August 26, 2024, 100 days after the attempt on his life. “The police are now pressing me to sign a document claiming that the culprits are ‘untraceable’. I have refused. They are very much here, loitering in the neighbourhood. I live in fear,” he told Frontline.
On May 4, 2022, B. Tamilselvan, an environmental activist from Ekkadampalayam in Chennimalai in Erode district, escaped death when thugs, hired by illegal quarry miners, assaulted him with iron rods at an Internet centre. Tamilselvan had raised the issue of illegal quarrying at a village gram sabha meeting, which led to the closure of a quarry. Police filed a case against some unidentified people the next day. Nothing happened thereafter, and illegal quarrying continued.
B. Tamilselvan, an environmental activist from Erode district, escaped death when thugs hired by illegal quarry miners assaulted him in 2022.
| Photo Credit:
By Special Arrangement
Tamilselvan claimed that a local All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) functionary who owned the quarry was behind the attack. He told Frontline: “We knew the assailants. But the police did not take it seriously. We had to fight to get the FIR registered. I am still suffering from the injuries I sustained on my shoulders and head.” The Tamil Nadu Police have closed many such cases as “accidents”. “We have to fight to even get them registered as ‘suspicious deaths’,” said Venkalapalayam Natarajan, an anti-quarry activist.
It is not just stone quarry operators—illegal river sand smugglers also adopt the hit-and-run method to eliminate those who challenge their operations, with their victims even including high-ranking government officials and police personnel. For instance, in April 2003, Revenue Inspector R. Shanmugasundaram was run over and killed by a lorry transporting sand illicitly mined from the Palar riverbed near Palayaseevaram in Kancheepuram district.
In September the same year, Tahsildar G. Punniyakodi lost his life when he tried to stop a lorry illegally transporting blue metal from Erumaiyur, also in Kancheepuram. He too was run over.
On December 11, 2004, R. Venkatesan, Deputy Tahsildar of Tirukazhukundram, was killed when a sand-laden lorry ran him over at Manapakkam village.
On July 20, 2014, G. Kanakaraj, 43, a head constable attached to Thakkolam Police Station near Arakkonam in Vellore district, was run over by a lorry when he attempted to stop a tractor that was transporting sand illicitly mined from the Kosasthalaiyar river. Five officials, including the Tahsildar of Aavudaiyarkoil, Ravichandran, and four of his assistants, had a miraculous escape when a lorry rammed into their car near Pudukottai in September 2014.
Similarly, the killing of Srivaikundam’s Village Administrative Officer, Y. Lourdu Francis, on April 25, 2023, by a river sand mafia sent shock waves across the State and led to widespread protests by revenue officials. Francis, an upright officer, was opposing illegal quarrying in the Thamirabarani river and had registered a case against illicit sand miners in the village.
In the case of Francis, the police completed the investigation quickly and filed a charge sheet, with legal proceedings also moving quickly, and the Principal District Judge of Thoothukudi awarding life imprisonment to two miners on September 15, 2023. But this was one of the rare cases where the police, revenue, and mining departments worked in tandem to bring the culprits to justice.
Also Read | A sand scam
Most of the time, the killers get away scot-free. Not surprising, given that a background check on those behind most of the attacks and murders often reveals the surreptitious involvement of individuals with political affiliations or links to their cronies.
If Jagabar Ali was a member of the AIADMK, the farmer Jeganathan was a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) supporter who served as the party’s branch secretary and was also a close associate of senior party functionaries. But, as in Ali’s case, the DMK maintained a stony silence over Jegannathan’s murder.
The truth is that the lucrative business of mining stone, granite, and beach and river sand is in the hands of individuals who have strong connections to politicians of all hues.
Tamil Nadu has seen a spate of cold-blooded murders of activists who oppose mining across categories—whether the mining of stone, granite, river sand, or beach sand. Powerful gangs operate these businesses, concentrated in Madurai, Pudukottai, Tirunelveli, Erode, and Krishnagiri districts, and they deal with all opponents ruthlessly, whether they are residents, activists, whistle-blowers, or officials. There is an enormous amount of money at stake, which ensures that concerns about ecological damage, biosphere disruption, or the loss of livelihoods and habitats barely register.
Frontline studied a list of deaths and found an ominous pattern of targeted violence, official apathy, and impunity for the mining mafia. The first sinister pattern is that monstrous 40 tonne or 60 tonne dumper and tipper trucks are the most common dispensers of death. Paid killers are used sometimes, but most of these mafia-orchestrated murders are staged to look like hit-and-run accidents. In many cases, they are quietly recorded as such, leading to widespread allegations of collusion between the Tamil Nadu Police and the gangs.
The killing of 58-year-old Jagabar Ali, whose story our lead piece records, followed the same script: he was run over by a tipper lorry on January 17, 2025. After offering namaz at a mosque, Ali was returning home on his motorcycle when a truck rammed into him head-on on an otherwise deserted street. He was killed instantaneously.
Also Read | Why the Centre cancelled the tungsten mining project in Madurai
Ali is the latest in a growing list of deaths of those who fight the mining mafias. R. Jeganathan, a farmer from Kuppam in Karur district, who had demanded the closure of illegal stone quarries in his neighbourhood, was run over by a quarry truck near K. Paramathi in September 2022.
The incident took place one day after the quarry, located at Kalipalayam village near Kuppam, was shut down. The truck that rammed into his scooter and killed him on the spot belonged to the same quarry.
R. Jeganathan, a farmer from Karur, who had demanded the closure of illegal stone quarries in his neighbourhood, was run over by a truck in 2022.
| Photo Credit:
By Special Arrangement
Activists such as R.S.A Mughilan, convenor of the Tamil Nadu Environment Protection Movement, as well as Jeganathan’s family and friends staged a series of protests in Karur demanding a probe. The police finally arrested three people, including the quarry owner, detaining them under the Goondas Act.
In 2022, an activist named Mani was run over by a lorry at Kavalkinaru in Tirunelveli district. The case was closed after being labelled an accident. On May 12, 2024, Natarajan, a farmer from Sarkar Kathankanni village near Uthukuli in Tiruppur district, narrowly escaped a similar attempt on his life.
The Uthukuli Police initially refused to even register a complaint. After five hours of persistence, the police gave Natarajan a CSR (Community Service Register) copy. When there were further protests, the police reluctantly registered an FIR on August 26, 2024, 100 days after the attempt on his life. “The police are now pressing me to sign a document claiming that the culprits are ‘untraceable’. I have refused. They are very much here, loitering in the neighbourhood. I live in fear,” he told Frontline.
On May 4, 2022, B. Tamilselvan, an environmental activist from Ekkadampalayam in Chennimalai in Erode district, escaped death when thugs, hired by illegal quarry miners, assaulted him with iron rods at an Internet centre. Tamilselvan had raised the issue of illegal quarrying at a village gram sabha meeting, which led to the closure of a quarry. Police filed a case against some unidentified people the next day. Nothing happened thereafter, and illegal quarrying continued.
B. Tamilselvan, an environmental activist from Erode district, escaped death when thugs hired by illegal quarry miners assaulted him in 2022.
| Photo Credit:
By Special Arrangement
Tamilselvan claimed that a local All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) functionary who owned the quarry was behind the attack. He told Frontline: “We knew the assailants. But the police did not take it seriously. We had to fight to get the FIR registered. I am still suffering from the injuries I sustained on my shoulders and head.” The Tamil Nadu Police have closed many such cases as “accidents”. “We have to fight to even get them registered as ‘suspicious deaths’,” said Venkalapalayam Natarajan, an anti-quarry activist.
It is not just stone quarry operators—illegal river sand smugglers also adopt the hit-and-run method to eliminate those who challenge their operations, with their victims even including high-ranking government officials and police personnel. For instance, in April 2003, Revenue Inspector R. Shanmugasundaram was run over and killed by a lorry transporting sand illicitly mined from the Palar riverbed near Palayaseevaram in Kancheepuram district.
In September the same year, Tahsildar G. Punniyakodi lost his life when he tried to stop a lorry illegally transporting blue metal from Erumaiyur, also in Kancheepuram. He too was run over.
On December 11, 2004, R. Venkatesan, Deputy Tahsildar of Tirukazhukundram, was killed when a sand-laden lorry ran him over at Manapakkam village.
On July 20, 2014, G. Kanakaraj, 43, a head constable attached to Thakkolam Police Station near Arakkonam in Vellore district, was run over by a lorry when he attempted to stop a tractor that was transporting sand illicitly mined from the Kosasthalaiyar river. Five officials, including the Tahsildar of Aavudaiyarkoil, Ravichandran, and four of his assistants, had a miraculous escape when a lorry rammed into their car near Pudukottai in September 2014.
Similarly, the killing of Srivaikundam’s Village Administrative Officer, Y. Lourdu Francis, on April 25, 2023, by a river sand mafia sent shock waves across the State and led to widespread protests by revenue officials. Francis, an upright officer, was opposing illegal quarrying in the Thamirabarani river and had registered a case against illicit sand miners in the village.
In the case of Francis, the police completed the investigation quickly and filed a charge sheet, with legal proceedings also moving quickly, and the Principal District Judge of Thoothukudi awarding life imprisonment to two miners on September 15, 2023. But this was one of the rare cases where the police, revenue, and mining departments worked in tandem to bring the culprits to justice.
Also Read | A sand scam
Most of the time, the killers get away scot-free. Not surprising, given that a background check on those behind most of the attacks and murders often reveals the surreptitious involvement of individuals with political affiliations or links to their cronies.
If Jagabar Ali was a member of the AIADMK, the farmer Jeganathan was a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) supporter who served as the party’s branch secretary and was also a close associate of senior party functionaries. But, as in Ali’s case, the DMK maintained a stony silence over Jegannathan’s murder.
The truth is that the lucrative business of mining stone, granite, and beach and river sand is in the hands of individuals who have strong connections to politicians of all hues.
