Anti-social elements brandish weapons and snatch money across Madurai

Four separate incidents of threatening and attacking with weapons were reported across different locations here on Friday and Saturday.

All attacks followed a similar fashion of brandishing a knife or weapon in all these incidents. In K. Pudur, a man was surrounded by four persons around 10 p.m. at a tea stall and was attacked with a knife. One among the accused attacked the victim on the head with a beer bottle. The victim escaped with bleeding injuries and reported the incident to the police.

In another incident near Muthupatti, a man working as supplier at a TASMAC bar was on his way to work when a man walking from the opposite direction intercepted him and demanded money for buying alcohol.

When the complainant refused, the accused raised his voice and threatened the victim with a long sickle, pointed it to the neck of the victim, threatened to kill him and snatched ₹500 from his pocket. The accused also allegedly swirled the sickle above his head and dragged it on the road as in films to scare away bystanders who could rush to the spot, hearing the cries of the victim.

A similar incident was reported in Tallakulam station, in which a man running a cane juice shop on New Natham Road was intimidated by another from Kannanenthal. The accused allegedly brandished a knife and demanded money for consuming alcohol. The complainant cried for help and when people gathered, the accused fled the spot but threatened the juice shop owner of dire consequences.

In the fourth incident reported in Thideer Nagar police station limits, a couple was attacked near Periyar bus stand. The accused snatched a cell phone and ₹200 from the victim.

All the accused claimed to be popular anti-social elements. First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered at the above police stations and special teams have been formed to investigate the matter.