The police on Thursday traced the IGCAR scientific officer reported missing by his wife a day earlier — to the central prison at Puzhal. The police said V.V. Radhakrishnan had been arrested by the Pallavaram police on Sunday for harassing a woman. When the cops took him in for sending lewd SMSes and making obscene phone calls to a woman, Radhakrishnan claimed to be Shyam Sunder, a software professional at a top IT company.
After Radhakrishnan’s wife lodged a complaint with the cops and television channels started broadcasting images of the “missing” IGCAR officer, the Pallavaram police officiers who arrested Radhakrishnan made the connection.
Meanwhile, a telegram sent by the police to a Bengaluru address given by the suspect in the harassment case was returned with a note that the address had not been found. When the cops contacted the Chaturangapatinam police for details about the missing IGCAR officer, they found Radhakrishnan’s cellphone number and the number of their harassment suspect were the same. The police immediately took Radhakrishnan’s wife Sheeja to the Puzhal prison where she identified her husband. The police said Radhakrishnan, originally from Kerala, confessed that had provided a false identity to escape the humiliation of his arrest. “He had a debit card with the name Radhakrishnan on it,” a police officer said.