CHENNAI: A local court on Wednesday granted police three days custody of P Ram Kumar, accused to have killed Infosys techie S Swathi in Nungambakkam Railway station three weeks ago.
P Ram Kumar was produced before Magistrate Gopinath, in-charge of the X1Vth Metropolitan Magistrate courts in Egmore around 3 pm. The Magistrate granted police three days custody after a hearing that lasted more than two and half hours.
City Police had sought five day custody of Ram Kumar for further investigation, according to sources. Arguing against granting police custody, Ram Kumar's advocate Ramaraj said that his client's life is in danger and that police had carried out enough investigations.
Prison doctor, Dr Naveen Kumar was also present during the hearing and the magistrate granted police custody after the former certified that Ram Kumar's health is stable, according to sources.
The Magistrate further granted permission for Advocate Ramaraj to visit his client twice in a day for half an hour. Ram Kumar was taken to the Nungambakkam Police station for further enquiries. He is more likely to be shifted to a secret location, where the investigations would be carried out, a police official said.
A day earlier, an identification parade of the accused was held in the Puzhal Prison. The parade which began at 10 30 am lasted close to a hour when Swathi’s father Santhana Gopalakrishnan and Sivakumar, a vendor in Nungambakkam Railway station were made to identify him.
Ram Kumar was shifted to the Puzhal Prison last Tuesday (July 5) from the Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH) where he was admitted for treatment. The Engineering graduate from Meenakshipuram in Tirunelveli district allegedly slit his throat when a police team rounded him up at his residence on the night of July 1 (Friday).
S Swathi, an Infosys employee was murdered on June 24 in Nungambakkam Railway station while she was waiting to board the train to work. The accused, Ram Kumar had allegedly stalked her for three months and killed her after she reportedly ignored him.