Chennai: Refusing to believe that P. Ramkumar, the lone accused in techie Swathi murder case, committed suicide, lawyer S.P. Ramaraj on Sunday alleged that his client's death was a “planned murder” and that the Tamil Nadu Police are trying to push the truth under the carpet.
“This was a planned murder. Ramkumar had no intention of committing suicide. He was never involved in the murder. From day one, we have been maintaining that he was being framed in the case,” Mr Ramaraj told Deccan Chronicle on Sunday evening.
Mr Ramaraj, a former district magistrate who was defending Ramkumar in the case ever since he was arrested on the night of July 1 from his village near Tirunelveli, also alleged that the police framed Ramkumar in the sensational case to “protect the real accused”.
Recalling his interactions with Ramkumar after he was lodged in Puzhal prison, Mr Ramaraj said his client was under pressure from prison authorities and police since he was not the real accused.
Soon after the news spread about Ramkumar attempting suicide, Mr Ramaraj said, he did try to contact authorities in Puzhal prison about the reports.
“They told me that Ramkumar has become indisposed due to food poisoning and is being take to Royapettah Government Hospital. But, an hour later, media channels flashed that he was brought dead to the Hospital from the Puzhal prison,” the lawyer alleged.
“If Ramkumar had attempted suicide, why did not the prison authorities inform me when I called them? Why did they hide the fact from me? This clearly indicates that there is something amiss. I have always been maintaining that Ramkumar was being framed in Swathi murder case,” he claimed.
Mr Ramaraj also said he would discuss with parents of Ramkumar and decide the future course of action.
“We will take up the matter at appropriate forum,” he said and claimed that a fact-finding team that went into the murder found several discrepancies in the police theory.
