Ahead of Rahul's Madurai trip, misfire kills woman

A 62-year-old woman was killed on Tuesday when a rifle of an Armed Reserve Police constable went off accidentally at the corporation office in Madurai, giving anxious moments to security men deployed for the visit of All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi to the city later in the day.

Sundaravalli, who had come to the complex to collect her pension, was killed on the spot when the rifle being cleaned by the constable on duty, Satish Kumar, accidentally went off, said Police Commissioner K Nandabalan.

The constable had not locked the loaded rifle before cleaning it and the trigger got activated accidentally, he said.

The bullet pierced through the neck of the woman and made a hole on the wall of the treasury office.

The incident caused a flutter as security personnel were on high alert in the city and southern districts in view of the visit of Gandhi, who commenced a three-day tour of the state from Nagercoil on Tuesday morning.