US national roughed up in Chennai

CHENNAI: A

US national

was roughed up by a group of people when he was waiting to meet his friend near a mosque at

Pallavaram

here on Tuesday. The injured US national lodged a complaint against the attackers the next day, while members of the

Tamil Nadu Towheed Jamaat

party also lodged separate complaint against him accusing him of attempting to convert poor Muslims in the neighborhood.

William Butler Keith

, 39, native of Texas in the US, stayed at an apartment house in Pallavaram with his wife. According to William, he went to meet his friend Abdul Hassan, with whom he often had several rounds of 'healthy discussions' on the Bible and the Quran. A team of people cornered him, attacked him, bundled him in an auto and took him to a police station.

The Pallavaram police registered a first information report (FIR) against unknown TNTJ members, on the complaint of Keith, and issued an acknowledgement (community service register) based on the complaint of the

TNTJ members

against the US national. Police have also informed the US Consulate officials about the incident and they have sent a detailed report to the consulate officials.