By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Two young men were tied to an electric pole and reportedly thrashed for over nine hours near Guduvancherry on Sunday by a mob of locals who suspected them to be burglars. Both of them have suffered severe head injuries and are hospitalised in a serious condition.

Police officers said they had to resort to lathicharge to rescue the two men since the residents had pelted stones at even the cops. The residents in turn accused the police of inaction despite a series of burglaries being reported in the locality and said this had made them take law into their own hands.

According to locals, the series of incidents unfolded around 6 am on Sunday when two young men – Mohan Raj (19) and Imraan Khan (19) – were spotted at Vallalar Nagar. A few of the locals suspected them to be involved in the burglary at the house of one Abdul Hameed the previous evening since the two were found standing close to Hameed's house.

The duo incidentally hail from the same locality.

A police officer from the Guduvanchery police station who handled the case said, "The mob soon tied them to an electric post and started assaulting them. They also damaged things in the houses of the two young men when they went there to search for the burgled items."

The mob reportedly thrashed the duo for over nine hours until around 3.15 pm when the police were alerted. "We immediately rushed to the spot. But the locals refused to hand them over to us," said an officer.

Initially, a team of four police personnel went to the spot. But they could not rescue the duo since the locals pelted stones at them. Another police team headed by a police inspector then went to the spot and lathicharged the residents to rescue the two youngsters.

Mohan Raj and Imran Khan were rushed to a hospital since both of them had suffered severe head injuries. Both are said to be in a serious condition.

Police said they are not sure whether the two are involved in the burglaries and said they will conduct further investigations. Residents alleged that as many as ten burglaries have been reported in the area in recent weeks, but the police had not taken any action.

A similar incident happened in July this year when a 22-year-old man who allegedly attempted to burgle a locked house at Veppampattu in Tiruvallur district was caught by the locals and beaten up after being tied to a lamppost.