Viral attack video: Tiruvottiyur AIADMK candidate goes underground

While five of his accomplices - Ranjith, Yuvaraj, Kannan, Ilayavanan and Gopi - were arrested in connection with the assault on Sunday, an official told DT Next that about 20 more suspects have been detained for inquiry.

CCTV footage retrieved from the hospital premises and widely shared by the DMK cadre on social media shows Kuppan alighting from his car inside the hospital complex, while the next clip shows him arguing with a man, later identified as Mohan alias ‘Bun’ Mohan of DMK.

Suddenly, Kuppan’s men start attacking Mohan. In the next clip, Mohan is seen escaping in a car, but the AIADMK cadre managed to damage Mohan’s car by breaking the windshields. Tiruvottiyur police on information conducted inquiries and registered a case.

Meanwhile, DMK cadre allege that it all started in Sathangadu police station limits around 8 pm when they went to stop AIADMK men distributing cash to voters in seventh ward at Charles Nagar.

“An argument broke out and AIADMK men attacked our members Karthik, Mohan and Sasikumar with wooden logs. While Sasikumar suffered grievous injuries, Mohan managed to snatch their cash bag containing Rs 3.5 lakh and flee the spot since the flying squad did not reach the spot despite several alerts. While they were admitted at a private hospital in Tiruvottiyur, Kuppan and his sons Arul Mani and Karthik reached the hospital and attacked us again. Mohan was beaten up in front of his wife,” said Saran, a DMK man.

According to Saran, the cash had been segregated booth wise to be distributed to voters. Tiruvottiyur police said that Kuppan visited the hospital to compromise with the DMK cadre, but his men unleashed the attack again. However, Kuppan has been listed as the first accused in the case and further investigation is on.

In Tiruvottiyur, KP Shankar is the DMK candidate, while Kuppan has been fielded by AIADMK. It may be noted that NTK coordinator Seeman is also contesting from Tiruvottiyur.