Road rage: A screengrab of the accused persons attacking Manivannan in Chennai on Thursday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
î –A police constable and a BJP functionary, along with another man, indiscriminately attacked a young couple in a car in full public view, even as some traffic police personnel remained mute spectators, at Foreshore Estate here on Thursday. They had targeted the couple in a case of road rage.
In a video of the assault, which went viral on social media triggering a public outrage, the accused were seen repeatedly chasing and attacking the young man, who was stripped of his shirt. The Pattinampakkam police on Friday arrested the three persons. It is said that they were in an inebriated state when they attacked the victims.
According to the police, Manivannan, a resident of Royapuram, and his wife were travelling in a car. While nearing the busy Pattinapakkam junction, Manivannan found a car in front of his vehicle moving in a zigzag manner. When it suddenly halted, Manivannan’s car rammed the vehicle. Enraged by this, the occupants of the car got down, forced Manivannan out of the vehicle and attacked him, ignoring his wife’s pleas to leave them. They chased and relentlessly attacked him even as numerous motorists passed by. One of the accused also pinned Manivannan down on the road and punched him repeatedly.
The video also revealed that the traffic police personnel who were on duty near the signal did little to prevent the men from attacking Manivannan. A man driving a scooter was also seen asking a reserve sub-inspector to intervene, but the latter was only recording the brazen act on his phone. One of the three attackers claimed that he was a policeman. Later, a couple of traffic police personnel and passers-by stopped the attack and the trio fled the spot.
Later, Manivannan was treated at a hospital for injuries, and he filed a police complaint. The arrested persons are — Gopi, 50, an Armed Reserve Constable from Tiruvottriyur; Karthik Raja, 30, who claimed to be a reporter of a daily and a functionary of the BJP; and Sudalaiyandi, 50. They were produced before a court for remand.
