Madurai police said a local gardener’s timely information helped them arrest the suspect in the rape and murder of a Plus Two student near Vilathikulam in Thoothukudi district.
The accused, identified as Dharmamuneeswaran (39) from Sayalkudi in Ramanathapuram district, was taken into custody nine days after the crime. For security reasons, he was shifted from Tirunelveli prison to Madurai prison on Friday night.
Tirunelveli DIG Saravanan said investigators initially had no CCTV evidence and conducted door-to-door inquiries. The suspect was found to have been moving around the Vedanatham area on March 7, 8, 9 and 10.
Police said he had come to Thoothukudi on a motorcycle stolen in December from Parthibanur in Ramanathapuram district and stayed in the Vedanatham area. He allegedly watched women using public toilets in a secluded forested part of the village.
A gardener from the locality grew suspicious after noticing the two-wheeler parked there on March 7, 8 and 9 and photographed it on his mobile phone. After the murder, he shared the information with police. Investigators later found the registration number had been altered by repainting digits, and CCTV footage from a windmill area corroborated the lead, enabling the arrest.
