Chennai: The Tamil Nadu police Sunday apprehended four 17-year-old boys for allegedly attacking a 20-year-old migrant worker from Odisha with sickles near the abandoned Old Railway Quarters in Tiruttani. They filmed the assault, which was followed an argument on a suburban train.
The victim was identified as K. Suraj, a native of Odisha. Police said Suraj had recently come to Chennai following a dispute with his parents. He had been moving around the city and taking up odd jobs.
According to the police, the incident occurred Saturday evening when Suraj was travelling in the general compartment of a Chennai–Tiruttani EMU local train. When the train reached Thiruvalangadu railway station, the four juveniles boarded the same compartment.
The minors were allegedly intoxicated and carrying two sickles concealed in their bags.
“One of the juveniles initiated a conversation with Suraj in Hindi. The exchange soon escalated into a quarrel, which continued until the train reached Tiruttani railway station,” a senior police officer said.
After getting off the train at Tiruttani, the group allegedly took Suraj to the nearby abandoned Old Railway Quarters. Police said that while three of the juveniles attacked him with sickles, the fourth recorded the assault on a mobile phone. They also tried to take off his clothes. Suraj sustained extensive cuts to his head, hands and cheeks before the group fled the spot, leaving him bleeding.
Suraj later regained consciousness and managed to reach the main road, where passers-by noticed his condition and alerted the police. He was first admitted to the Tiruttani Government Hospital and later referred to the Tiruvallur Government Medical College Hospital, where doctors said his condition is stable.
Based on a tip-off and the Instagram reel uploaded by the juveniles, police traced the four minor boys to the Gangai Amman temple near the Tiruttani–Arakkonam bypass, where they were found consuming alcohol and taken into custody.
Investigations revealed that all four juveniles are school dropouts, and their parents are daily wage labourers. Police said one of the boys has a prior case pending against him under Section 153 of the Railways Act (endangering the safety of persons travelling on a train).
The Tiruttani Town police registered a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 109 (attempt to murder), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 296 (obscene acts) and 351(3) (criminal intimidation). The juveniles were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, and three of them were sent to the government observation home in Purasaiwalkam, while one was sent with his parents after a warning as he was physically challenged.
As the details of the attack emerged, the incident has triggered sharp political reactions with BJP, AIADMK and ruling DMK trading charges over law and order and safety of migrant workers in the state.
Stating that the DMK government must be held accountable for turning a once orderly state into a “jungle raj”, BJP former state president K. Annamalai posted in X: “While the police have arrested the perpetrators, the large rot remains untouched. Early access to narcotics, open glorification of violence, political propaganda against migrant workers and the casual carrying of deadly weapons like swords have become normalised under this regime.”
AIADMK spokesperson Kovan Sathyan said that such incidents are the achievements of the DMK-led Dravidian model government. “There is absolute lawlessness in the state and this incident is evidence,” he said.
When asked about it, DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan said that it was an isolated incidents.
“There are over 10 lakh migrant labourers working across the state and everybody is feeling safe. These are isolated incidents and we have taken immediate action in regard to the said incident,” Elangovan told ThePrint.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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