CHENNAI: Even as the city police are maintaining high vigil on city roads during the night hours, a gang of masked men vandalised vehicles parked on a street at Vyasarpadi on Sunday late night. After a spate of nighttime robberies last week, the police teams were deployed almost at every major road in two shifts in the night hours. Vehicles and people moving around in the night hours are kept under vigil.
Despite this, around 11.30 pm on Sunday, six men with their faces covered with kerchiefs descended on the 10th Street at Sharma Nagar. “We heard huge noises of glasses being smashed and men shouting. There were six men, all of them covered their faces with handkerchiefs. They were using log-woods to ransack the vehicles. They even threatened us to not step out of the houses,” said Hari, a resident of the street.
A total of five auto rickshaws, a car and a mini truck were damaged. “We immediately visited the Vyasarpadi police station and filed a complaint. But the police visited the spot for enquiries only on Monday afternoon,” Hari said.
The residents said luckily none were inside the vehicles when the gang ransacked the vehicles. Since it is summer, the locals sometimes sleep in autos. “Just minutes before, my husband had gone to the bathroom. What would have happened if my husband was inside the vehicle when the gang arrived,” said Manimegalai, whose husband’s vehicle was one of those ransacked. She said the locality had been unsafe even for women as they get harassed by men when walking on the streets. “Despite informing the police, no patrolling teams have been deployed in the area,” she said.
When contacted by Express, a senior police officer said a case has been registered in connection with the Sunday night’s incident and investigations are on. It was not clear how the gang escaped from the police radar despite heavy police patrolling in night hours in recent days.
The public safety in the locality has a concern with repeated such incidents happening in public view. The residents say around 10 days ago one Manikandan, 24, was hacked to death by a gang. Also, in Kalyanapuram locality, one U Ganesan was attacked by a gang around 8.30 pm on Sunday and later six persons were arrested.