Chennai: The sickle used to kill Swathi, which has attracted much attention due to its peculiar shape, belonged to Ram Kumar’s uncle. In his native village in Tirunelveli, the techie killer’s kin had been searching for it for the last four weeks. He was accustomed to using the sickle to cut heavy fruits and vegetables like jack fruit and coconut, etc., the police said.
Ram Kumar had taken away the sickle without informing his uncle. He obviously had a plan to use it if needed. In his room at the Chooliamdeu mansion he had kept it under his bed and carried it in his backpack when he went out with the intention of accosting Swathi.
The sickle had a highly curved heavy top and a lean handle. The shape ensures a deep cut when struck with such a weighty weapon. Ram Kumar had attacked Swathi from behind and the sickle slashed her jaw and throat, which ensured her death in minutes due to heavy bleeding. “He was certainly familiar with the weapon and he knew how to use it,” police noted.
His uncle told the police that he had been looking for the weapon for the many days and was not sure who had taken it. Meanwhile, Ram Kumar had used it to hack Swathi on the morning June 24 at the Nungambakkam railway station and later dumped it on the tracks before escaping from the railway station.
He would not have wished to carry the weapon back to his room where he, however, left his blood-stained shirt. This shirt created serious doubts in the mind of his roommate, a security guard, working in a firm in Ekattuthangal and he had informed the police during the second round of door-to-door enquiry by sleuths in Choolaimedu neighbourhood about Ram Kumar.
