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Attack at funeral of doctor who died of Covid-19: 69 more booked

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.04.2020

After the Madras high court took suo motu notice of the early Monday morning attack on a few corporation staff, ambulance crew as well as the family members of neurosurgeon Dr Simon Hercules, who died of Covid-19, by residents of Velangadu near Anna Nagar, police on Tuesday booked 69 people. They had earlier arrested 21 people including a woman in this connection.

The 21 suspects including a man named Annamalai were detained in the police station at Anna Nagar until evening before they were produced before the Egmore metropolitan magistrate at his residence. They were charged with attacking assistant executive engineer Kalaiyarasan and executive engineer Senthil

Kumar of Greater Chennai Corporation and ambulance crew members Anand and Damodaran, who suffered injuries in the assault.

Investigators have collected CCTV camera footage from a few private television channels as well as from police personnel who captured the mayhem on their mobile cameras and identified the 69 suspects in first information report (FIR) registered based on the complaint of a corporation engineer who was one of those attacked by the mob.

Police said they may include a few more people who were involved in the attack. A case under IPC Sections 307 (attempted to murder), 332 (preventing to discharge the duty of a government servant), apart from 147 (riot), 148, 324 (attacking with sticks), 294 (B) (abusing), 506 (II) (criminal intimidation), 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) IPC and Section 3 of the TNPPDL Act was registered.

Police commissioner A K Viswanathan had earlier said stern action would be initiated against those violating the prohibitory orders as well as those trying to prevent people from conducting the last rites for Covid-19 victims. The Madras high court had also demanded that the city police and the state government submit affidavits detailing the safety measures being ensured for those conducting the last rites for people dying of Covid-19.