CHENNAI: In a shocking case of xenophobic hysteria and police ineptitude just days after the gunning down of five suspected bank robbers from Bihar and West Bengal , a mob in Pallikaranai on Sunday attempted to lynch a man because they thought he was a ‘burglar from north India ’.After a group of residents of Balaji Nagar, a slum in Pallikaranai near Velachery, beat Venkat Rao till he lost consciousness, the police let off his assailants and took the victim to Pallikaranai police station. Officers took Rao’s fingerprints and let him go when they concluded that he appeared to be mentally challenged.Rao, who appeared to be in his twenties, was later identified as a native of Andhra Pradesh. When residents of Balaji Nagar saw him, he was walking through the locality barechested and wearing only a pair of trousers.When the residents suspected that he was a burglar and started following him, Rao panicked and attempted to run away. He ran into a marsh where around 15 men overpowered him. “People were shouting ‘north Indian’ and ‘thief ’ as they thrashed him. It was a horrible sight,” said an eyewitness.Nearly 1,000 people, including slum-dwellers and passersby, stood and watched the youth being thrashed. No one stepped forward to stop the attack. Policemen passing by stopped their vehicle but drove away despite noticing the melee in the marsh.“They were kicking and punching him and he was bleeding. After a few minutes, he lost consciousness,” a witness said.Police later returned to the spot and took him away.“Everything happened in 20 minutes. Many people were cheering and laughing and egging on the mob,” he said.The mob then dragged Rao to the main road, but the police came by again and this time took him away in a van.A resident of Balaji Nagar told TOI that the youth appeared suspicious. “People from the neighbourhood thought he was planning to commit a theft."The police confirmed the attack. “After the encounter with the bank robbers, people think that all Biharis are burglars. They mistook this man to be from north India and attacked him. He could not even speak properly. We gave him some tea and biscuits and let him go after taking his fingerprints,” said an officer from the Pallikaranai police station.The police admitted that they did not take any action against the men who beat up Venkat Rao. “Everything happened because of misunderstanding,” the officer said.