Robert Ashe (civil servant)

On 17 June 1911 Ashe was assassinated by Vanchinathan at the Maniyachi railway junction, between Tirunelveli and Tuticorin.

[1] After the shooting, Vanchinathan ran along the platform and took cover in station masters room.

Vanchi was accompanied by a youth named Sankara Krishna Aiyar who ran away, but was afterwards caught and convicted.

[2] Ashe was the first and only colonial official to be assassinated in South India during the Indian independence movement.

One of his sons was killed in the Second World War while the other joined the Indian Army and served until 1947.

Ashe and his family.
Maniyachi railway station, where Ashe was assassinated (currently renamed as Vanchi Maniyachi after Vanchinathan)