Woman found murdered near track

A railway gangman, who was inspecting the tracks between Tambaram and Chengalpet, first spotted a body wrapped in black cloth a few feet away from the track near Potheri railway station around 5 am and immediately alerted the Tambaram Railway Police. A few personnel rushed to the spot, inspected the site and informed that the railway will take up the case only if the body lies within 6 feet on either side of the track. 

Immediately, Maraimalai Nagar police were alerted. However, they refused to retrieve the body claiming that their jurisdiction starts only after 12 ft from the railway track and argued that the woman might have been knocked down by a speeding train and thrown off the track. As they were arguing who should take up the case, the passengers using the station objected to the body lying unattended. Local residents confronted the policemen and threatened to bury the body themselves around 9.30 am. 

Kancheepuram Police Superintendent intervened and directed the Maraimalai Nagar police to retrieve the body. Only when the police tried to remove the body, they found that the woman had worn a black churidhar and a burqa. Her neck had been slit and injury marks were found on her face as well. Police retrieved a lunch box and a few pills next to her body. A sniffer dog was pressed into service. It ran up to a km in the Guduvanchery direction on the tracks and returned to the same spot. 

Police have booked a case under Section 302 and are trying to establish the identity of the woman. Police suspect her to be a visitor to a private hospital in Potheri and might have been targeted by some miscreants. Other angles are also being probed. Police also blamed railway policemen of inaction.