The Cottonpet police have detained an engineering student from Annamalai University on the charge of murdering 24-year-old Roopali Mishra at a lodge here last week.
The accused, identified as Satyaprakash, hailing from Bihar, was introduced to Roopali, a native of Kanpur, by a common friend. Satyaprakash had borrowed Rs. 2 lakh from Roopali promising to get her a job in the city, the police said. But when Satyaprakash was unable to provide her a job even after five months, a restive Roopali started demanding her money back and even threatened to file a complaint against him, according to the police.
Enraged by this, Satyaprakash, who had by then used up the money, decided to eliminate Roopali, the police said.
He came to the city from Chennai on February 6 and checked into UG Regal lodge in Cottonpet before calling Roopali saying that she could collect take her money back from him.
The police said that Satyaprakash had confessed to the murder.
Later in the afternoon, he received Roopali near the reception of the lodge, took her into his room and killed her.
The police said that Satyaprakash had taken Roopali’s mobile phone with him.
This, however, helped them track him down in Chennai and detain him, they added.