Swathi murder case: Madras HC reserves order on plea for CBI probe

CHENNAI: More than two months after software engineer S Swathi's murder on Nungambakkam railway platform shook Tamil Nadu, the Madras high court on Tuesday reserved its orders on a petition filed by the lone suspect P Ramkumar's mother seeking a CBI probe into the case.

Justice P N Prakash reserved his orders, after advocate Ramaraj, counsel for Ramkumar's mother Pushpam charged state police with slapping a false case on the engineering student and attempting to shield someone involved in the murder.He argued that three-four cut injuries could not be inflicted on any person by a sole assailant, and that the nature of injuries on Swathi appeared as if they were inflicted by an expert.Though originally railway police were handling the case, it was transferred to the Chennai city police and then to the CB-CID four days later, he said.

Days after Swathi's murder, four special teams had been formed by police but their findings were not known, Ramaraj said.

Rejecting the police theory that Ramkumar was the jilted lover and that he committed the murder after being rejected by Swathi, he said they had not known each other at all.

Though names of some other persons had been cropping up in several social media platforms, police had not interrogated them to find out the real culprit, he said.

Counsel for the government, however, denied the allegations and said police had based its case on the basis of detailed and thorough investigation. He said police were ready to submit all the materials before the court and leave the decision to the court.

After hearing both sides, Justice Prakash reserved his orders without mentioning any date.

Swathi was hacked to death in full public view in the early morning of June 24, while she was waiting on Nungambakkam railway platform for a suburban train to go to her office.

Though the identity of the killer was not known, a CCTV footage obtained from a nearby house showed a youth rushing out of station premises. An intense search led police to Ramkumar, who was picked up from his native village in Tirunelveli district on July 1.

The murder caused panic among working women and general public alike, and the police came under fire during the first week when they could not crack the case.