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Software to zoom in on doctor's killers [Chennai] [Times of India]
[September 28, 2013]

Software to zoom in on doctor's killers [Chennai] [Times of India]


(Times of India Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) CHENNAI: The cyber laboratory attached to the city police commissioner's office will use a software to zoom in on CCTV footage and identify the faces of three men involved in the murder of Dr S D Subbiah at R A Puram on September 14.



Chennai police have sent CCTV footage of the attack on neurologist Dr S D Subbiah to the cyber laboratory and the state forensic laboratory to identify the assailants. A camera installed in an apartment complex in R A Puram had captured the three men hacking the doctor on a pavement on September 14.

While two suspects, lawyer brothers P Basil and P Boris, have surrendered before a magistrate, the henchmen who executed the murder remain elusive. A couple of sources in the city police said they have definite leads on the assailants who are believed to have fled to Bangalore after the attack, but on record police officers remained non-committal. Joint commissioner of police, Chennai east, K Sankar said the assailants are yet to be identified.


Police said three assailants were involved in the murder. "They must have conducted a recce. The footage shows two men hacking the doctor. Before that, another man in a black t-shirt carrying a backpack is seen walking about 10 metres ahead of the doctor. He must have been the one who identified the doctor to the killers. Once the other two attacked, he fled," an officer said.

A cyber laboratory official said they are well-equipped to generate images of the assailants from the grainy footage. "Using the software, a frame can be divided into 24 parts and one part can be zoomed in. By correcting the sharp edges of pixels, the face would be clearly seen. The software comes with several tools to give a sharp image," a police officer said.

On the ground, police have questioned a security guard of the apartment complex from where the video grabs were collected. The footage shows the guard watching the assault. Investigating officers believe the henchmen are from Kanyakumari or Bangalore. We are going through profiles of professional goons," the officer said.

Meanwhile, police are trying to take lawyer brothers P Basil and P Boris in their custody for 10 days. The investigating officers will submit a petition seeking their custody before the 23rd metropolitan magistrate court in Saidapet on Friday. "We hope to get at least a week's custody," an officer said. Police have also launched a hunt for Basil's father Ponnusamy, grandmother Anna Pazham and another relative Williams.

Dr Subbiah, a resident of Thoraipakkam, was a consultant neurosurgeon at Billroth Hospital. Police said the murder was a fallout of a feud over property worth 15 crore that the doctor inherited from his mother near Kanyakumari.

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