‘Bangalore techie’s unrequited love and suicide staged as murder’

Investigations into what had initially appeared to be murder have now revealed Sreeraj was upset after a girl he was in touch with by phone and email refused to meet him in person and tried to shake him off by saying she was leaving for the US.

Police have found that Sreeraj sent an email to the girl,a telemarketer who had told him her name was Jennifer,at 2.30 am on Tuesday,saying,“If you don’t receive a ‘good morning’ message from me in the morning you can read about me in the newspaper”.

A post mortem examination revealed nearly 100 undigested sleeping pills in Sreeraj’s stomach. Some more pills were found in a half-consumed bottle of water next to the body,and one pill on the seat beside him. Investigators think no one could have forced him to consume the pills.

Investigations have established the cause of death as asphyxiation by the plastic sheets covering his head and gagging his mouth. Police believe Sreeraj,after parking his car,tied and gagged himself,covered his head with plastic,and wrapped duct tape around it.

“The car had central locking. It was locked from the inside,and the key was on the front seat. There is no sign of a struggle on the body or in the car that would suggest forcible asphyxiation. The autopsy suggests the victim suffocated to death before the sleeping pills could enter the bloodstream,” said a source close to the investigation.

Police found Sreeraj’s address through a drycleaner whose label was on a plastic cover around his head. They also questioned the telesalesgirl today,who told them she had struck up a friendship with Sreeraj whom she first called three months ago. She told him she was an MBA,sent him someone else’s pictures saying they were hers,and communicated only by phone or email,police sources said.

When he insisted on meeting her,she told him that she was leaving for the US,and tried to break off contact. Police said Sreeraj had access to restricted medication,and may have been suffering from depression.