P. Ramkumar (24), the suspected assailant in the Swathi murder case, never switched off his mobile phone till his arrest on Friday night.
After investigators zeroed in on the suspect, they were in for a shock when his mobile phone was active in his native village Meenakshipuram near Sengottai in Tirunelveli district.
“We took him into custody within one hour of ascertaining his involvement in the murder. Right from the scene of crime (Nungambakkam railway station) to his arrest in Meenakshipuram, he never switched off his mobile phone. He has made and received calls as usual…,” a senior police officer said.
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It was only after residents of the private mansion in Choolaimedu confirmed the identity of Ramkumar that police searched his room and found his bloodstained clothes.
“The phone was very much active. The other phone (recovered from him), which is suspected to be that of Swathi’s), was switched off. Analysis of the victim’s phone might give more leads on the motive,” he said.
Asked why the police confined the door-to-door search to Choolaimedu since the suspect could have come from any part of the city, the officer said the CCTV footage showed the suspect rushing out of the railway station, and another footage obtained from a retired bank official’s house showed him walking through a particular street. But he was not seen in surveillance cameras installed at the end of the street or adjacent roads.
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“It was clear that he did not enter the Choolaimedu High Road. So we commenced a door-to-door check and found the mansion where he lived since October 2015. Some of his relatives or friends also live in the same mansion and that is how he landed there,” the official said.