Boyfriend held for murdering woman at Mylapore lodge

CHENNAI: Police on Saturday said they solved the murder of a 22-year-old woman in a

Mylapore lodge

by arresting her boyfriend in Madurai.

The woman, identified as E Nivedhita, a resident of Veera Perumal Koil Street in Mylapore, left her house on Wednesday evening and did not return. Nivedhitha's family had lodged a missing person case at the

Mylapore police

station. She was found dead on Thursday night at the Picnic Plaza lodge on R K Mutt Road, close to her house, where she booked room 210 on Wednesday.

After investigating the call details from her mobile phone, police narrowed down on Suresh Kumar, 28, who works as a mechanic in Koodal Nagar in Madurai. Police nabbed him from his house in Madurai and brought him to Chennai for questioning. A court remanded him in judicial custody on Saturday.

Police teams are hunting for Suresh Kumar’s friend Subash, who accompanied him to the lodge on Thursday and left in the evening. Police have collected CCTV footage containing the images of the two suspects from the lodge, said a senior police officer.

After room service staff informed the lodge manager that the room was continuously locked till Thursday night, the lodge authorities informed police personnel who broke open the room to find the woman lying dead.

During questioning, Suresh Kumar told police that he befriended Nivedhita through a social networking site and they chatted with each other over the phone. She invited him to visit Chennai and booked a room for him at the lodge in Mylapore.

Police said Nivedhita’s father Ethiraj runs a paper mart in Mylapore, while her mother is a homemaker and her elder sister works in a private firm. Nivedhitha had completed her BBA from an Alwarpet college.