In yet another shocking instance of unruly behaviour by members of the DMK in Tamil Nadu, a party member and his friend have been arrested for assaulting staff at a mobile phone repair shop in Tiruvannamalai.
The CCTV visuals captured from the mobile repair shop in Tiruvannamalai show two men entering the shop even as the owner and employee are seen manning the counter.
The shop owner, Manivannan is seen showing the cell phone to 29-year-old Ragupathy, a member of DMK's youth wing and his friend, 26-year-old Ganesh, possibly explaining the repair work. Ganesh then begins gesticulating angrily towards Manivannan.
Suddenly, Ragupathy is seen pushing the shop owner by the collar. When a staff member nearby tries to push him off, Ragupathy and Ganesh start dealing blows on both of them.
Manivannan, is repeatedly beaten when his staff uses a plastic stool to fend off the duo. The stool is then taken by Ganesh and he begins attacking Manivannan.
At this point, another man enters the shop and tries to intervene. This is when a bleeding Manivannan and his employee attempt to chase the men away from the shop. While Manivannan begins to notice his injuries, the staff member is still seen grappling with the men outside the shop.
Speaking to TNM, an investigating officer from the Thanipadi police station says, “The incident occurred on Saturday evening. Earlier in the day, they went to give a cell phone charger for repair because the pin wasn't working. They give it at noon and expected it by 1 pm. But when they got it back, it didn't work. So they returned at 7 pm and gave it back to the shop. They returned at 8 pm and asked for it back. They asked whether the charger had been repaired or not. We're not sure what argument transpired between them but Ragupathy and his friend started using foul language and they all got into an altercation.”
The duo has been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 294(b)(sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both), 323(Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 324(Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 427(Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), and 506(Punishment for criminal intimidation).
While the staff member was unhurt, Manivannan has had six stitches to his head and is recovering at the Tiruvannamalai General Hospital.
The incident comes just over a month after DMK youth wing secretary Yuvraj and his cronies assaulted the employees of Salem RR Biriyani shop in Virugambakkam, Chennai for being denied free food. The men had tried to use the excuse of then DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s ill health and got agitated when they were not given free biryani.