Armed gang’s late night rampage leaves 7 injured

CHENNAI: An armed gang barged into a house in Rajamangalam on Saturday night and attacked its occupants, including a mother and her son, the police said. The same gang allegedly attacked five more persons in other neighbourhoods.

While the same gang was involved in both armed attacks, preliminary investigations revealed that the victims were not connected. Police said the first attack took place around 10.30 pm. About six persons arrived on two motorbikes and barged into a house on Sivasakthi Nagar 1st Street. They first attacked Chandra (52) who was in the hall, injuring her on the head.

The gang then went into one of the rooms and attacked Chandra's son Rajesh who was watching the TV. Rajesh suffered cuts to his torso but raised an alarm, prompting the gang to flee on their motorbikes. Police rushed to the house and shifted the injured to a hospital.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the gang had come looking for someone named Akash, and since he was not in the house, they attacked Chandra and her son. The gang later rounded up a group of youths near Girija Nagar main road and attacked four of them – Karthik (35), Tamilselvan (26), Manojkiran (32), and Vishal. Two of them suffered severe head injuries.

The gang then chased down and attacked a history-sheeter near Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT), Koyambedu. The victim, Ganesan (37) of Rajamangalam, is an autorickshaw driver.

According to the police, Ganesan has several criminal cases pending against him and is a history-sheeter at Puzhal police station. Sensing danger, Ganesan took to his heels, but the gang caught up with him and attacked him with machetes. Ganesan then ran inside an eatery but the gang followed him there and continued their blows.

Police have identified the suspects as Jeeva, Chinna Karuppu, Amavasai, Vicky and have launched a search for them.