CHENNAI: A 22-year-old man who was caught while attempting to burgle a house in Tiruvallur district on Thursday was tied to a pole and thrashed by a mob. The villagers claimed it was the failure of the police to reach the spot, hours after they were alerted, that resulted in the mob taking law in their hands. Not just that, the policemen at Sevvapettai station were so busy that they allegedly asked the house owner to bring the suspect on his bike and from there take him to a government hospital about 14 km away.
Around 7.30 in the morning, Logammal, mother of one Nanda Kumar, a hardware storekeeper at Vinayagapuram, returned home after helping her son open and clean the shop. Nanda Kumar told TNIE, “My mother noticed that the locks were broken open and immediately phoned me. Minutes later, she saw a young man rushing out of the house, leaving behind a few jewels and cash. He pushed her down and fled. I noticed this (the shop was just a few metres away from the house), and raised an alarm and the villagers chased and nabbed him.”
“We tied him to the post as we were waiting for the police to come and take him into custody. But a few people assaulted him,” Nanda Kumar said, indicating that while he did not assault the suspect, it was the failure of the police in reaching the spot, that resulted in the assault.
“We waited for two hours for the police and finally they asked me (over phone) to bring the suspect to the Sevvapettai station which is about 2.4 km away. When we reached the station, again I was asked to take the suspect to the Tiruvallur government hospital for treatment, which is 14 km,” he said. “What if the suspect attacks me or my friend with a knife while taking him to the hospital or police station?” he asked.
The suspect has been identified as Venkaiyan, 22, of the same locality. A senior police officer said, “Most of the police were deployed for bandobust at a temple festival at Tiruttani. We will look into the issue.” Sevvapettai inspector also said that he was away on bandobust duty and will probe the issue.