A photo of the suspect in the murder of a 24-year-old woman IT professional was on Thursday released by the city police, four days after they made public CCTV images of the incident at a railway station here.
Police released a ‘file photo’ of the man, saying it had been ‘developed’ by them. The photo shows a man wearing blue shirt and black pants; similar to what was seen in the CCTV footage released by the police on Sunday.
On Wednesday, the police had discovered that the killer was a young man who was following Swathi since May.
The Chennai Police released the image with the help of a Hyderabad-based digital forensic firm which helped the city force in obtaining the high-resolution pictures of the accused.
The release of suspect’s image is being seen as a major development and the police is now confident of cracking the case soon.
Quoting an eyewitness, a senior officer investigating the case said the suspect neither had any conversation nor argument with the victim. He apparently came with the sole motive of murder. However, the information that there was no conversation or argument did not mean that the suspect was a stranger to Swathi.
“Going by the CCTV footage recorded outside the station, the suspect enters the premises at 6.31 a.m. and is seen walking out at 6.42 a.m. 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…,” the officer said. Parrying questions on fingerprints on the weapon, he said the ‘aruval’ had a wooden grip and had been sent to forensic experts.
Though surveillance cameras are installed at Chennai Beach, Chennai Egmore, Mambalam and Tambaram stations, it is suspected that the visuals might have been recorded either in Tambaram or Mambalam, the sources said.
The police is now seeking help from people to help trace the murderer. Swathi was hacked to death on a platform in Nugambakkam railway station in Chennai at around 6:30 am on June 24.
