An elderly couple of Tiruneveli, who fought off two armed robbers late on Sunday, will receive a special award from Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Thursday, on the occasion of Independence Day.

Even though the award for the couple — Shanmugavel and Senthaamarai — is expected to carry a cash prize, an official in the State government said a formal announcement would be made only on Thursday. But the couple will not be covered under the Kalpana Chawla Award for courage and daring enterprise, which is given on I-Day. The cash prize of the Chawla award is ₹5 lakh.

Even before the couple landed at Chennai airport on Wednesday, news was out that Tirunelveli District Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish had recommended the names of the couple to the government for an award on bravery.