Overview
- Police say the group confronted the victim on a Chennai–Tiruttani local train and later attacked him near the Old Railway Quarters, recording the assault and posting it online, including a clip of a 'victory' pose.
- All four suspects, each 17, were apprehended and produced before the Juvenile Justice Board; most reports say they were remanded to observation homes, with some citing one minor’s conditional release.
- The victim, identified as Suraj/Siraj, is a migrant worker whose home state is reported variously as Maharashtra, Odisha or Madhya Pradesh; he remains hospitalized with severe cut injuries, with his condition described as critical in some reports and stable in others.
- Preliminary inquiries note the teens were intoxicated, are school dropouts and carried concealed sickles on the train, with one youth previously booked under the Railways Act.
- The case has intensified scrutiny of suburban railway security and prompted political reactions, with BJP, Congress and AIADMK leaders demanding stronger policing and action on narcotics.