The accused in the sensational murder of 24-year-old IT professional Swathi on a railway platform allegedly committed suicide at the Puzhal Central prison on Sunday, police said.

"He (Ram Kumar) committed suicide and the body is now in Royapettah Government Hospital," a top police official told PTI.

Swathi was hacked to death, allegedly by Kumar, an engineering graduate, on June 24 while she was waiting to board a train at a platform of Nungambakkam suburban railway station to her work place on the city outskirts, an incident which was caught on CCTV. When police traced him days later and came to arrest him, he had allegedly attempted to commit suicide.

On how he committed suicide in jail, the official said, "It is in the domain of prison authorities...it is said that he had bitten an electric wire in the jail dispensary," and had died subsequently. Prison authorities declined to speak on Ram Kumar's death.