Three persons, who murdered software engineer B. Uma Maheshwari in Siruseri in Februrary, were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Mahila Court in Chengalpattu on Friday.
The accused, Ram Mandal, Utam Mandal and Ujjal Mandal, were held guilty of murder and robbery by judge S. Ananthi. Police officers who investigated the case said that they would have been happier if the punishment was more severe. A total of 51 prosecution witnesses were examined, and 119 exhibits and 61 material objects were marked in the case hearings.
On February 22 this year, the body of a woman was found near Siruseri SIPCOT complex. It was later identified as that of Uma Maheshwari, a TCS employee who went missing on the night of February 13.
The case was then altered to one of murder under section 302 of the IPC, and Crime Branch CID took over the case.
“We then started checking CCTV footage from nearby ATMs and buildings. One of them showed three people, with their faces covered, entering an Indian Bank ATM on February 13 at 11.45 p.m.,” said an officer who investigated the case.
Further investigation revealed that an ATM card that the men had used belonged to the victim. “When we analysed the call records from Uma Maheshwari’s phone, it showed calls were made to West Bengal. We tracked the IMEI number, and arrested Ram Mandal and Utam Mandal in Chennai,” said the officer. Based on their information, Ujjain Mandal was arrested.
The CCTV footage from the ATM was sent to Forensic Science Laboratory in Gujarat, and Uttam Mandal was identified in the footage on the basis of his physical structure.
Senior police officers said they had held meetings with representatives of IT companies and asked them to improve lighting on roads leading to their firms. “We have also asked them to install CCTV cameras and monitor cabs that drop their employees at night,” said a senior police officer.
