An independent journalist Sandhya Ravishankar, who wrote a series of articles alleging illegal beach sand mining by Tirunelveli-based mining baron S Vaikundarajan, has become a victim of online harassment and phone call threats, including explicit name-calling, since January. The Chennai-based freelancer who filed a complaint with the city police commissioner on March 14, has been given full-time police protection.

Objecting to Sandhya's articles that appeared in the online publication 'The Wire', Vaikundarajan's V V Minerals wrote to her on Sunday, accusing her of colluding with retired IAS and IPS officers to extort money through harassment. Referring to the journalist as 'paid news' Sandhya, the letter drafted by the VVM Employees Association read, "Sandhya wisely brings up something against VVM whenever a case related to the company is expected to come up for a hearing. The motive is to prejudice the judiciary. "