More than a year after Infosys techie Swathi was murdered in broad daylight at the Nungambakkam railway station, 13 CCTV cameras have been installed at the railway station.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) confirmed to TNM that 13 CCTV cameras have been installed and will be monitored by the Mambalam Railway Protection Force (RPF). Officials said that the cameras are currently being tested, and will soon be inaugurated by the railway police.
After Swathi’s murder, the railway police were severely criticised for the lack of security infrastructure at the suburban rail stations. They were further slammed for not taking the trouble to remedy the situation even in the months after the murder.
The police were forced to search for CCTV footage of Swathi’s murderer Ramkumar from shops and residences along the road beside the railway station as there was no footage available from the station itself.
Reports state that besides Nungambakkam railway station, only seven railway stations have CCTV cameras in the Chennai division, which includes major stations like Chennai Central and Egmore.
TNM had visited the Nungambakkam and other railway stations to check the security status of stations a year after the crime. Even though there were security personnel on the platforms, the women’s compartments of trains did not have woman railway police officers and many parts of the stations were not well-lit.
On June 24, 2016, Infosys employee Swathi was hacked to death by a man named Ramkumar at the Nungambakkam railway station at around 6.45am, for rejecting his advances. On July 2, 2016, police arrested him from his native place in Tirunelveli district.
In September, Ramkumar allegedly committed suicide at the Puzhal Central Prison by biting into a live wire. The case was formally closed in February 2017 as the accused in the case was dead.