COIMBATORE: Coimbatore police on Friday arrested a 33-year-old soup stall owner who allegedly killed his paramour. Police established his connection with the murder using CCTV footage, which led to his arrest within one week of the incident.
The arrested was identified as M Mohanraj (33) of Krishnan Kovil Street in Ramanathapuram who was running a soup stall at Racecourse. As per police, C Jagadeeswari (41) of Cheran Maa Nagar was found dead in her home on July 28, when her husband M Chakkaravarthi (44) and daughter (17) were away. As the valuables of around five sovereigns of gold went missing from the house, police suspected that it could be a murder for gain.
Police formed four special teams to investigate the case and they collected CCTV footage from the street. They spotted a person entering her house and spending around two hours there. While checking the CCTV footage between the crime spot and Nava India, the suspect was found riding two different bikes.
While fleeing the crime scene, Mohanraj allegedly changed his vehicle and helmet to escape the police but didn’t change the shirt, which helped the police to trace him. Though he also changed the number plate of the vehicle multiple times after the crime, the two-wheeler he used while returning from the crime scene was found in front of a soup stall at Racecourse, said police.
City police commissioner V Balakrishnan said that they have accessed more than 100 CCTV footage which helped them to trace the identity of the suspect. Interrogation revealed that Mohanraj was the neighbour of the woman a year ago and she was friends with him. Though Mohanraj moved out, she used to demand money from him and threatened to reveal their relationship to his wife. The two used to only contact each other via WhatsApp voice and video calls. After the murder, Mohanraj allegedly cleared her WhatsApp call details, police added.