The Human Rights Defender under attack: Mr. Thanikachalam, aged 59 years, S/o. Duraisamy was a resident of Pudur Village in Palur Post, Via Madhanur, Ambur Taluk in Vellore District. The Human Rights Defender had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Madras High Court pleading for the removal of encroachments along about 18 acres of land of the Kannar channel connecting Thottalam Lake. The High Court, on hearing the case, passed an order directing the district administration to remove the encroachments along the water channel and to restore it. Acting on the High Court's direction, the revenue department officials had conducted an anti-encroachment drive. As restoring the Kannar channel connecting Thottalam Lake would affect farming activities of farmers possessing land in the upstream of the channel since they will not receive water for irrigation to raise their crops, Thanikachalam antagonized several farmers including the perpetrator with this action of his. Thanikachalam used the Right to Information Act as a tool to unearth the extent of land that had been encroached. His public work also extended to other spheres like education of students in his area for whom he gave tuitions. He is not affiliated with any political party, movement or union. Date of Incident: The 11th of November, 2014, at about 09.45 PM Place of Incident: By the side of agricultural Land in Saminathapuram in Ambur Police limits in the Vellore District of the South Indian State of Tamil Nadu while the Defender was returning home after taking photo copies of his case documents in Madhanur in Ambur Taluk of Vellore District. Incident: According to sources, on the 11th of November 2014 at about 9.45 P.M when Thanikachalam was returning to his house in Pudur Village, Palur from Madhanur where he went to take photocopies of his case documents, he was brutally attacked by the Perpetrators and killed in a gruesome manner. His body was found in the early hours of the 12th of November, 2014. The Perpetrators are the farmers who would be affected by the removal of encroachments for which Thanikachalam filed the PIL. They were named by Mr. Subramani, the deceased human rights defender's younger brother in the complaint that he filed with the police. Though more than 25 days have lapsed since the murder of the human rights defender, only one of the accused, J Venkatesan (alias Loganathan), the Councillor of 8th ward of Palur has been arrested and remanded. It is noteworthy that the removal of the encroachments for which the High Court had passed order in the PIL filed by Thanikachalam has been stopped now which was the intention behind the murder as per sources. A state-wide protest has been planned for the 11th of December 2014 which marks one month of the murder of the defender, seeking immediate arrest of the remaining accused and the resuming of the removal of the encroachments in the Kannar Canal.