Six persons arrested for assaulting man at Tiruvannamalai GH

A BJP cadre was among six persons arrested by Mangalam police on Sunday in connection with the assault of an injured man inside an ambulance at Government Medical College Hospital in Tiruvannamalai town.

The police said the arrested persons were identified as R.K. Arun, 38, B. Velu, 62, V. Praveen, 25, S. Dinesh Kumar, 26, G. Nithish, 23, R. Sathish, 22. Except Arun, who is a local BJP cadre and resident of Tiruvannamalai town, all other suspects are residents of Mangalam village near Tiruvannamalai town.

Initial inquiry revealed that key suspect Velu, who was reportedly in an inebriated condition, stopped an auto rickshaw with commuters on Mangalam Main Road near town in the early hours of Sunday. He had reportedly demanded money from the autorickshaw driver to buy liquor.

The police said that the driver and Velu were engaged in a quarrel when Silambarasan, who was passing by, intervened. The police said that when Velu informed his son Praveen about the incident, the latter along with his friends, reached the spot and thrashed Silabarasan. A badly injured Silabarasan was rushed into an ambulance by residents of the village. The gang followed the ambulance, which stopped at the government hospital in town.

The police said once the ambulance halted at the hospital, the gang dragged Silambarasan from the vehicle and beat him before police rescued the injured victim. A case was registered. Arrested persons were lodged at sub-jail in Tiruvannamalai town. A probe is under way.