Kalpana Chawla award winner Suki Premila (38), Flying Squad Tahsildar of the Revenue Department in Kanyakumari district, has seized smuggled PDS items on several occasions.
Once, Premila had to chase a vehicle from Kulithurai. The vehicle entered Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala and the occupants came with iron rods to attack her. But with the help of locals and the police, they were arrested.
On another occasion, when she was conducting vehicle checks at Iraviputhukkadai, Premila sensed something wrong with a car. She chased the vehicle for 40 km and it went to the border of the next taluk Kalkulam. To her surprise, instead of rice or kerosene, she found one- and-half tonnes of ammonium nitrate, an explosive, being illegally transported.
Premila thanked Kanyakumari Collector S Nagarajan for recommending her name for the award. She said her husband Joe Baburaj, a junior assistant in the khadi department, has been a big support for her.