Drunk trio hacks cop, nabbed

The accused, too, suffered injuries, allegedly after the police roughed them up, and they have been booked under charges of murder attempt and dacoity. The accused were identified as Sathishkumar of Nolambur, Panneerselvam of Koyambedu and Ranjith of Thiruverkadu. 

According to sources, the three had just snatched a mobile phone from a passer-by in the locality and were riding triples on a scooter when they were stopped by constable S Anbalagan (47), attached to Poonamallee police station, and Gowtham, a member of Friends of Police, who were conducting a regular vehicle check. Realising that they were driving under the influence of alcohol, Anbalagan captured their photos to check in the Police Department’s mobile app to find out if they had any criminal records. 

They took out the machete when Anbalagan tried to stop them from escaping from the spot. When he saw the weapon, Gautham ran away and alerted Poonamallee police. 

The CCTV footage of the attack that the police department released showed Anbalagan backing off after seeing the weapon. But Sathishkumar chased the officer and hacked him. Then Panneerselvam is seen punching Anbalagan, before the trio fled the spot.

By then, a team from Poonamallee reached there and took Anbalagan to a hospital nearby. He had suffered grievous injuries on his left hand and thigh. The gang had taken the policeman’s phone with them after he took their photos. This, however, did not help them, as it only made it easier for the police team to track them to Thiruverkadu using the phone’s tower location. 

Police said Panneerselvam and Sathishkumar have murder cases pending against them in Nolambur and Koyambedu. Now, they were booked under Section 307 (attempted murder) and 397 (dacoity with attempt to cause death) of the IPC. The machete used in the assault, a two-wheeler and a mobile phone were seized from the accused. 

A senior officer drew flak for a social media post that had the photograph of the three accused wrapped in bandage, allegedly after being bashed by the police for daring to attack a policeman. Along with the photos that T Nagar Deputy Commissioner P Aravindhan shared on Facebook a sarcastic comment that they were injured after slipping in the bathroom, and also wishing them a speedy recovery. This drew criticisms over third-degree assault in custody from many social media users, forcing the officer to remove it within hours.