4 held for assaulting policeman during Santhanakoodu festival

CHENNAI: The SSI Mahaboob Basha, attached to the intelligence section of Communal Intelligence Wing (CIW), was posted for bandobast for the procession in which a pot of sandalwood paste is carried in a decorated chariot, from the famous Hazrath Syed Moosa Sha Qadri Dargah on Anna Salai.

The SSI, who was in plain clothes and followed the procession, noticed a group of people attacking a drunk man near an ATM on Bharathi Salai. He tried to intervene, but failed. He then tried to record a video of the incident and which the gang opposed. When Mahaboob Basha revealed that he was a police personnel, the men assaulted him and fled the spot in an autorickshaw. The officer sustained minor injuries on his face and was treated at a nearby hospital.

Basha then lodged a complaint at Zam Bazaar police station. A case was registered and four men—A Anand (30) of Otteri, A Sadiq (45) of Triplicane, S Sadam Hussain (30) of Pulianthope and N Jameel (27) of Kodungaiyu —were arrested. While Anand is a marketing professional, Sadiq allegedly imports and exports goods illegally. Sadam Hussain is an AC mechanic and Jameel is into sales of used wrist watches, said police.

The investigation officer said that it was a drunken brawl which Basha tried to break up to make way for the procession.

The men arrested were booked under Sections 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (causing hurt by weapons), 353 (deterring public servant from discharging duty and 506(ii) (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code and remanded in judicial custody.