The mining mafia in Tamil Nadu is notorious for ruthlessly targeting anyone who dares to challenge its power and influence. The recent murder of a 58-year-old social activist, who had opposed illegal stone quarrying in Pudukkottai district, is reminiscent of many such attacks that have been unleashed time and again to silence whistleblowers. The death of Jagaber Ali, who was also an AIADMK functionary, almost passed off as an accident. On January 17, Ali was heading to his hollow block manufacturing unit on a two-wheeler after afternoon prayers in the Vengalur mosque when he was knocked down by a lorry and killed. However, his wife, Mariyam, suspected foul play. She filed a police complaint saying her husband had been facing threats to his life from stone quarry operators in the Thirumayam areas as he had been lobbying and petitioning the authorities against illegal stone quarrying. The police, which had initially registered a case under Section 194(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, then altered it as a case of murder after investigation. The four accused …