Video of students begging cops for mercy disturbing

CHENNAI: A day after the city was rocked by videos of sickle-wielding college students in suburban trains, what went viral on Tuesday were videos of four college students pleading guilty, in what appeared to be a police station.

The city police said they conducted checks on the suburban trains on Tuesday and arrested four students of Presidency College as they were found carrying sickles. One of the videos showed a terrified student surrounded by policemen held by his collar, crying and pleading for leniency. He was being questioned if he was sent to college to indulge in such acts and the boy broke down.

In another video, four boys who were apparently in a police station, are seen crying almost non-stop as they repeatedly confess their mistake of carrying sickles and knives. Police said one of the boys in the video was a juvenile. When asked about how the videos went public, an officer in charge of the case pleaded ignorance. The four boys were arrested by the Pattabiram police on charges of carrying weapons.

“These boys had decided to do similar stunts (referring to the videos that went viral on Monday) on the train everyday. They brought the sickles to the train again. As we tightened patrolling, we nabbed the boys on Tuesday,” said the officer.

The earlier video, taken on a train in the Chennai-Arakonam stretch, of the sickle-wielding students was allegedly shot on October 7 and was believed to be Pachayappa College students. The three students arrested on Tuesday were remanded in judicial custody.