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The Marsiling resident was arrested on Tuesday evening at Woodlands Checkpoint, as he tried to re-enter the country after leaving about 12 hours earlier.
That was around the time Ms Jeevitha's blood-splattered body was found sprawled behind an electrical substation next to Block 154, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 - not far from Block 157, where she lived with her father.
She had slash wounds on her neck and body. The last time she was seen alive was the night before, with her mother and a young man at the void deck of Block 155.
On Tuesday night, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department escorted Selvan back to the scene of the crime.
A silver knife wrapped in cardboard was recovered from a drain at the junction of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 and Yio Chu Kang Road.
About 20 friends and relatives of the 18-year-old gathered at her wake in a funeral parlour along Sin Ming Drive yesterday.
While her family would not talk to the media, friends expressed shock at what had happened.
Among them was private student Kalaivenan Chandran, 18, who heard the news from her friends on Tuesday evening. He added that he knew Selvan, but not well.
Few details have surfaced about the arrested man, although one friend who declined to be named called him an 'angry man'.
He has had brushes with the law, he added.
Selvan was also involved in Indian classical dancing, and appeared to be drawing a reasonable income. One former colleague said he had once worked as a cleaner at the Orchid Country Club.
At the wake, the atmosphere was sombre, turning tearful just after 6pm, when Ms Jeevitha's body, draped in a white cloth, was carried and placed in a gold-coloured coffin.
Her mother, who has been identified only as Madam Alice, had to be supported by relatives and screamed in Tamil for her daughter to 'wake up'.
She had identified her daughter's body at the mortuary earlier in the day.
Her father, Mr Palanisamy, a delivery assistant, performed the religious rites, including burning incense and laying flower garlands over her body.
Beside her coffin sat a pair of ornate red high-heeled shoes, to match the red cheongsam she wore - a poignant reminder of a girl whom neighbours and friends described as being petite and pretty, and who had dreams of one day becoming a model.
The funeral is being arranged by undertaker Roland Tay for free because the family cannot afford one.
Ms Jeevitha will be cremated at the Mandai crematorium this afternoon.
