Six days after Infosys techie Swathi S was hacked to death at Nungambakkam railway station in Chennai, police have released a photo of the suspect.
This comes four days after the police made public the CCTV images of the incident at the railway station.
Headway Likely in the Case?
While police are yet to crack the case, they have released a “file photo” of the man, saying it had been “developed” by them. It shows a man in a blue shirt and black pants and no further details were made available.
The police claim that the man in the photo is the attacker who killed Swathi with a sickle. Quoting eyewitnesses, an officer said that the identity of the suspect has been determined.
Swathi was killed on the platform while she was waiting to board a train on her way to office on Friday, 24 June.
The probe was initially handed over to the Government Railway Police. But it was subsequently shifted to the city police who constituted eight teams to investigate the murder.
Following which, the Madras High Court warned of suo motu intervention if there was any laxity in the investigation.
New Clues Could Lead the Way
According to reports in The Hindu, the police is investigating a couple of inputs that came in on Wednesday.
Here’s what we know so far:
- Cyber crime experts have been tracking “suspicious” mobile phones that were active before and after the murder.
- An officer, quoting an eyewitness, also asserted that the suspect did not have any argument at the spot with the victim and approached her with the sole motive to kill.
- “Going by the CCTV footage recorded outside the station, the suspect enters the premises at 6.31 am and is seen walking out at 6.42 am. He spent just 11 minutes, which includes the time he took to walk to and from the crime scene to the surveillance camera location. Maybe he spent barely two or three minutes waiting for the victim and attacking her,” an officer said.
- The ‘aruval’ (sickle) used for the murder has been sent to forensic experts for further investigation.
If You Have Any Information, Call These Numbers
The following officers can be contacted by public if they have any information about the case:
- Tr.K.Shankar, IPS, Addl.COP (S) - 8939966985.
- Tr.S.Manoharan, IPS, JC/East - 9840962359, 9498178179.
- Tr.P.Perumal, DC/ Triplicane - 9443481933.
- Tr. K.P.S.Devaraj, AC/ Nungambakkam - 9840190505, 9498132707.
- Tr.B.Kalitheerthan, AC, Egmore - 9751804830, 9498127426.
- Tr.S.Muthuvelpandi, AC/ Triplicane - 9884070878, 9498104839.
(With inputs from PTI, The News Minute and The Hindu.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)