A 32-year-old police constable who went to attend nature’s call on Sunday night became the 11th personnel in the city to come under attack in the recent months after he suffered cut injuries when a mobile phone snatcher attacked him with a sickle, near the railway track in Tambaram on Sunday night.

Police said Gnana Sekaran, an AR constable working as a driver at the office of St Thomas Mount Deputy Commissioner, had one of his fingers chopped in the attack.

On Sunday Gnana Sekaran was returning home along with two of his constable friends, Kalaiselven and Baskar. 

They worked in Chitlapakkam and Chromepet police stations respectively, and are residents of Ganapathipuram in East Tambaram. 

Around 11.45 pm, Gnana Sekaran stopped his two-wheeler near Tambaram subway and went to attend nature’s call at the rail track and two of his friends were waiting near the subway. 

Suddenly they heard Gnana Sekaran shouting for help. When the other cops and a few members of the public rushed to the spot, they saw Gnana Sekaranlying in a pool of blood with cut injuries on hands and chest. 

Soon, he was rushed to the private hospital nearby, from where he was shifted to Stanley Medical College Hospital.

According to police, the constable came under attack from a 25-year-old, who tried to rob his mobile phone. When Gnana Sekaran fought back, he was attacked with a sickle and the man fled from the spot. 

The policeman’s finger was chopped off in the attack.

Sources said that the place where the policeman was attacked was a common hang out for the anti-socials who consume liquor and sell ganja. Many robberies were reported there but there is jurisdiction issue between Tambaram and Selaiyur police stations, and Government Railway Police wing. 

There are allegations that some of the policemen collected bribe from the anti-social elements there.

Selaiyur police have registered a case and are trying to identify the attacker. Sources said they are also investigating why Gnana Sekaran went to that spot when his house is just one km away.