Overview
- Madurai police arrested assistant administrative officer D. Ram, 46, a month after the December 17 blaze that killed senior branch manager A. Kalyani Nambi.
- Officers say Ram confessed during interrogation, leading them to alter the case from an accidental fire to a premeditated murder.
- Investigators recovered plastic bottles filled with petrol and a tube allegedly used to siphon fuel from Ram’s motorcycle, supported by CCTV review and forensic findings.
- Police reconstruction alleges the suspect cut power, chained an entrance, poured petrol on the manager, set her cabin on fire, and later tried to stage the scene as an accident while claiming a masked intruder was responsible.
- Charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for murder and related offences, plus provisions of the Tamil Nadu Public Property Act, have been filed as the probe into destroyed files and pending claims continues.