Three weeks after Major Ramesh, a doctor in the Indian Army, was murdered at Mukkombu near here, the law enforcers on Friday announced a breakthrough with the arrest of an former convict.
The accused, M. Murugan alias Muruganantham (24), of Veereswaram in Srirangam, a property crime offender, who was convicted in a couple of crime cases registered in Srirangam and Karur Town Police Stations, was arrested by special teams with the help of a computer portrait they had developed with assistance from the deceased Army Officer’s wife Anuradha who was present at the crime scene.
Inspector General of Police, Central Zone, Karan Singha said the Army Major’s widow and her father would be called for the identification parade through court at the Central Prison, Tiruchi.
Blood samples of the accused, the Army officer and those taken from the scene of crime would be sent to Chennai for DNA testing. The special teams have collected enough evidences through information network, Mr. Singha said.
More than 100 suspects were grilled in the case. The teams were on the search for Murugan’s accomplice, he said.
Superintendent of Police, Tiruchi Rural, A. Kaliyamurthy, said that the accused had shaved his head apparently to conceal his identity after the computer portrait and photograph of his shirt that was snatched by Major Ramesh during the scuffle was published in the media.
Mr. Kaliyamurthy said Murugan had confessed to his crime and that investigators had seized the blood-stained knife and a vest worn by the accused from beneath the Kollidam bridge.
Information from the Tiruchi Central Prison about Murugan prompted the investigators to keep a watch on him for a while before pinning him down. The special teams were honoured with cash awards by IG Karan Singha.