Thoothukudi Sterlite firing: Revenue officer involved in Sterlite was not promoted, clarifies collector

CHENNAI: Thoothukudi District Collector K Elambahavath on Friday clarified that unlike suggested by some media reports, D Kannan who was recently promoted as district collector, has no connection with the Sterlite shooting incident.

He further reiterated that there was a confusion simply because the two officers shared the same name.

According to recent media reports, it was suggested that D Kannan who was promoted as district collector was the same official who was involved in the Sterlite shooting case.

While this news caused a huge uproar, Thoothukudi district collector Elambahavath immediately issued a statement on Friday clarifying that the person M Kannan who was involved in the shooting incident is not the same as D Kannan who was recently promoted.

Elambahavath said, nearly 20 deputy district collectors were promoted as collectors on September 6 out of which D Kannan was one of them.

"Media reports mistook that M Kannan, the revenue officer who was named in the Sterlite incident was promoted, which is not true. The confusion arose since both men shared the same name," he said.

D Kannan was previously attached to Thiruchendur where he was an election deputy collector.