VELLORE: Chaos prevailed in the Vellore District Court Complex at Sathuvachari here within 10 minutes of the start of proceedings on Tuesday when a group of five persons, wielding deadly weapons, entered the court premises looking for their target — Jaggan (alias) Jagannathan (24), a murder accused — and chased and attacked him with sharp weapons.
Jaggan, along with three of his associates — Maha (alias) Mahalingam (29), Appu (alias) Rajendran (23) and Banu (alias) Paul Jayakanthan (41) of Vellore — had come to the Fast Track Court on Monday to appear for a hearing in the murder case of John Sehar, Public Relations Officer of CMC Hospital.
After the adjournment of the hearing, Jaggan had come out of the building and was waiting for his friends when the gang, led by Vasur Raja (alias) Raja (26) of Pudhu Vasur, attacked him with sharp scythes causing deep cuts, even as scores of advocates and litigants ran amok in panic. Jaggan managed to evade the gang and ran for his life by entering the court. “Jaggan hid inside the office of the District Lawyers’ Association in the ground floor of the court. The gang searched for him for nearly 20 minutes and left the building,” said a lawyer, terrified at witnessing the attack.
“Jaggan sustained deep cut injuries on his forehead, thigh and left leg. He has been admitted to the CMC Hospital after brief treatment in Vellore Government Medical College Hospital,” said AT Ramachandran, Inspector of Police of Sathuvachari Station.