These images taken during the end of April and early part of May in 2025 show Little stints and Kentish plovers sharing space at a saltern in Thaiyur, near Kelambakkam.
| Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK

These images taken during the end of April and early part of May in 2025 show Little stints and Kentish plovers sharing space at a saltern in Thaiyur, near Kelambakkam.
| Photo Credit:
PRINCE FREDERICK

Take in this familiar scenario; and that might make it easier to figure out why the Little stints and Kentish plovers hang out together. Two colleagues are in the same department, and they have taken residence in the quarters provided by their office (a situation usually playing out in government jobs in India). They head out for work and hit the trail back home around the same hours, and therefore end up taking the same route both ways, and become travel companions.

Now shift the focus to a saltern in Thaiyur near Kelambakkam. The wintering season is in its fag end, and during the end of April and early part of May in 2025, one has been greeted by sights of Little stints sharing space with Kentish plovers.

Similarity in their dining habits and shared routes to the wintering grounds and back to the breeding grounds make them compatible and they are at home in each other’s company.

Whoever said familiarity breeds contempt has never been introduced to the Little stint and the Kentish plover.

CHENNAI: A 38-year-old woman BJP functionary was allegedly beheaded by an armed gang near Thanjavur on Monday night. The victim, B Saranya, had previously been accused of hurling footwear at minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan’s car near Madurai in 2022.
Three people, including Saranya’s stepson, surrendered before the police in Madurai on Tuesday in connection with the murder. However, police have ruled out any political angle, stating the murder stemmed from a family dispute.
Saranya, a native of Madurai district, was living with her husband Balan in Udayasuriyapuram village near Pattukottai in Thanjavur district. She ran a photocopy shop in the village and was returning home from work when she was attacked.
Thanjavur SP R Rajaram told TOI, “The murder was a result of a family dispute and has nothing to do with politics, such as the Madurai footwear hurling incident in which the victim was involved.”
Saranya previously held the post of secretary of the BJP’s women’s wing in Madurai. In 2022, she was among nine people arrested for hurling a slipper at the vehicle of minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan near Pudupatti in Thummukkundu.
The minister was leaving after paying tribute to the mortal remains of an army rifleman when the group threw footwear at his car. Saranya was later released on bail.
Following the death of her first husband, Shanmugasundaram, Saranya married Balan from Kalugapulikkadu in Pattukkottai block in 2023. The couple, along with her two sons, settled in Udayasuriyapuram, where they ran a travel agency and a photocopy shop.
On Monday around 9pm, Saranya closed her shop and was walking home when an armed gang intercepted her. She was assaulted with weapons, beheaded, and left a few meters away from her house. Her family began searching for her after she failed to return home and discovered her body shortly after.
Police retrieved the body and sent it to Pattukottai General Hospital for autopsy.
On Tuesday, three individuals — B Kapilan, Parthiban, and Gugan — surrendered at a court in Madurai, confessing to the murder. Police said Kapilan is the son of Saranya’s husband Balan from a previous marriage.
SP Rajaram stated, “Saranya was opposed to dividing her husband Balan’s assets and allocating a share to Balan’s son Kapilan. Kapilan was upset with his stepmother’s actions. Hence, he murdered her with the help of two of his friends.”
A team has been sent to Madurai to take custody of the accused.
BJP Mahila Morcha national president and Coimbatore South MLA Vanathi Srinivasan expressed shock over the murder. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), she said, “The crimes against women in Tamil Nadu are rising by the day. The incident shows that criminals do not fear the Dravidian Model govt. What will be the response of the Chief Minister, who said he will deal with crimes with an ‘iron hand’?”