Juvenile, six others held for birthday fete with machete

Chennai

The incident happened in the zero hours of Monday at the housing board quarters in Chitra Nagar and police said one Dinakaran alias

Dheena celebrated his 19th birthday by cutting a cake with a one-foot long machete surrounded by his friends in the open, though the public movement is restricted in the night hours as part of the lockdown.

After neighbours alerted the police that the youngsters are dancing on the road with loud music on, police rushed to the spot and secured them. They were identified as S Dinakaran (19), R Shanmugam (24), F Michael (18), J Vignesh (19), R Nagaraj (20), U Manikandan (19) and a 16-year-old boy. While six of them were remanded in judicial custody, the minor was sent to the observation home.

Kotturpuram police said the youngsters wanted to show off before their rival gang in the area. A shopkeeper in the locality also lodged a complaint saying the gang robbed him at knifepoint. So they were booked under extortion charges and other sections for violating lockdown norms as well.