Virudhunagar Deputy Superintendent of Police Venkatesan was hacked with a sickle on Saturday as the indirect polling to elect panchayat union chiefs was underway. The officer was on election duty at the Narikudi panchayat union office, where the polls were taking place, when an armed gang of four members entered the premises and hacked the DySP on his right arm, below the elbow.
Visuals from the attack show the men emerging from behind security sandbag bunker and pelting stones at the police and the media present at the union office. The men, swearing at the police officers, are seen collecting stones and hurling it on the police and media while one man is seen holding a sickle. Gunshots are also heard. The union office premises were also vandalised as computers, a bike and chairs were also damaged.
The DySP, who went to stop the gang, was hacked on his arm. After the attack, the officer is seen walking with a cloth tied around his injured arm, while holding the pistol in his left hand.
Two men have been reportedly arrested following the attack. Investigations are underway to find the other men.
According to trends, as of Saturday afternoon, both the AIADMK and DMK are neck and neck in seven wards each of a total of 14. But the polls were brought to a halt due to the attack.
The attack comes days after Wilson, a special sub-inspector in Kanyakumari, was killed by two assailants on Wednesday night. Two men, suspected to be Abdul Shameem (25) and Thoufeeq Yusuf (27), reportedly shot at the SSI using a pistol and stabbed him when he was on duty at the Kaliyakkavilai checkpoint in Kanyakumari district on the border with Kerala by 9:30 pm on Wednesday.