Duo held for dragging machetes on road for online video

The accused have been identified as Sarankumar (20) and Manikandan alias Mathi (19) of Theeyambakkam near Red Hills. The bike, their mobile phones and the two machetes were seized from the duo.

The incident happened on Saturday night in the locality. While riding a bike, one of them dragged a machete on the road to create sparkle for a new TikTok clip.

Passers-by who noticed them alerted Red Hills police inspector Rajendran. He rushed to the spot with his team and secured the duo. They were arrested and remanded in judicial custody.

TikTok, a mobile phone application meant to showcase people’s acting talent, is often misused by city youth, which make them land in trouble and sometimes even behind the bars. It may be recalled that S Ranjith Kumar (19) from Pudur near Ashok Nagar was arrested for uploading videos of him walking out of Ashok Nagar police station, while the background voice spoke as if praising him.

In January 2018, a video of bike-borne youth dragging barricades on Kamarajar Salai emerged after which police arrested a 22-year-old man and made him apologise to the public through a video.