Youth tries to con 75-year-old, nabbed and thrashed by public

Manikandan (21) who conned an elderly man by pretending to help him buy his train ticket was detained by police from Kancheerpuram.

The 75-year-old resident of Dindigul was planning to return home from Chennai on Pallavan Express on Friday morning, said police.

He was standing in a long queue to buy his ticket when Manikandan approached him. He offered to help the elderly man. He said that he has a friend inside the ticket counter and he would help him get his ticket quickly.

The elderly man was asked to wait nearby as Manikandan collected Rs 200 from to him to buy the ticket. Thereafter, he loitered near the counter for a few minutes but didn’t go inside. On suspicion, the elderly man kept an eye on him.

On noticing that he was being watched, Manikandan started running towards the platform number one. Seeing him run away, the elderly man started shouting and asked for help. Commuters nearby rushed to help him, and chased and caught Manikandan. A group of men also started to assault him.

Manikandan played the victim card and began to shout for help saying that the crowd was trying to rob him. Soon, few people came to Manikandan’s rescue. However, the crowd explained the situation to them. He was thrashed again and taken to Tambaram railway police.