Three policemen in mufti thrashed by residents near Chennai

Chennai: Three policemen were thrashed by angry residents who thought they were thieves, near Chennai on Thursday night. Sholavaram police arrested 4 persons in connection with the attack.

According to police, the victims, constables Arivuselvan attached to the intelligence wing of Greater Chennai Police, Muthukrishnan attached to Esplanade police station and Perumal of Korukkupet police station had gone to Nagathamman Nagar and Gandhi Nagar in Sholavaram in search of an accused man Kabeer, who is thought to be connected with the red sanders smuggling gang.

They were in civil dress and conducted a door-to-door search at 10 pm. Irked by the late night nuisance created by policemen, U. Kathiravan (27) of Samathuva Puram in Nagathamman Nagar argued with them and the argument led to fisticuffs.

The furore caused by the fight alarmed local residents. The latter, thinking that the policemen in mufti were burglars, beat them. They also damaged the car in which the constables had arrived at the spot.

On information, Sholavaram police rushed to the spot and rescued them before sending them to Stanley government hospital for treatment. Arivuselvan and Muthukrishnan were admitted as inpatients in the hospital.

“Last month, a gang who claimed to be policemen, entered houses in the locality and stole valuables from the houses. As the constables were in civil dress, the residents mistook them to be burglars,” sources said.

Sources also said that an investigation has been initiated to ascertain whether the injured constables had official orders to conduct the enquiry in the locality. However, police claimed that they had gone to Sholavaram based on specific information about Kabeer.

Sholavaram police registered a case and arrested four persons including Shanmugam, Muniyandi and Rameshkumar. The arrested persons were sent to judicial remand.