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BHOPAL: Residents in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh are in panic mode as a serial killer is on prowl targeting sleeping security guards smashing their heads with hammer, stones and spades. Four cases with identical patterns have been reported so far, with three confirmed kills including two in the last 48 hours.
DGP Sudhir Saxena told TOI that he is looking into the matter. Cases were linked after the mobile phone of the second victim was found near the third in separate police station areas. Guards murdered in three cases were identified as – Uttam Rajak, Kalyan Lodhi and Shamburam Dubey – aged 50 to 60 years.
Fourth such case reported on Tuesday night, where victim security Guard named Mangal Ahirwar has been referred to Bhopal with fatal skull injuries, gasping for life. Ahirwar was targeted while on duty near Moti Nagar area on Tuesday night. Officers are awaiting his recovery for clues about the mysterious killer – now being dubbed as ‘stoneman’.
Two other guards were murdered under CANT and Civil Line police station areas on Sunday and Monday nights triggering panic and protests in the city. Local police are trying to make a breakthrough in cracking the identity of the killer.
In every case, the accused has struck in the dead of the night, picking his victims randomly from guards sleeping on the premises of a house or buildings. They were hit on the head with a blunt object, hammer and spades in two cases, police say.
Killings started in May this year, when a watchman of the bridge construction agency was found murdered under Makronia police station area. Deceased was identified as Uttam son Kanchedi Rajak (58), resident of Pipariya Karkat used to work as a watchman on the under-construction overbridge on Makronia-Banda Road. He used to come daily from Pipariya on night duty. Investigators found that the guard was murdered while sleeping. His head was smashed and a shoe was kept on his face. Makronia police station is yet to collect significant clues leading to identification of the accused.
It was, however, a ‘routine case’ for the police. Tension gripped when a security guard of Sagar’s Arts and Commerce College was found murdered on Tuesday morning. His body was found in the canteen area. This area falls under the jurisdiction of the Civil Line Police area.
Deceased was identified as Shambhu Sharan Dubey, 60, resident of Anand Nagar Makronia. Police said his head was smashed with a stone or any other blunt object like a hammer. He too was attacked while at sleep, killing him on the spot. The FSL team reached the spot and gathered evidence. A bloodied stone was found near his body, which police suspect can be the murder weapon. Enraged by the incident, residents took his body on street and staged a roadblock demanding capital punishment for the accused.
Police had found a mobile phone near Dubey’s body. The SIM card was missing. Investigations found that the mobile phone was of Kalyan Lodhi, 57, another security guard who was hammered to death. Lodhi was working as a guard at a small factory in Bhainsa area under CANT police station area where he was murdered on Saturday night.
These murders came as a blow. Wednesday’s closed-door meeting at Sagar police headquarters thus went into the finer points of the operation to track down the killer and saw each sleuth being assigned a specific role. Officers say they will review security system in the area where the murders took place, sources say. Armed undercover policemen are also being deployed.
Police have dismissed perceptions that the murders, were committed by a ‘psycho’ killer, saying there was no psycho angle as feared by people.
DGP Sudhir Saxena told TOI that he is looking into the matter. Cases were linked after the mobile phone of the second victim was found near the third in separate police station areas. Guards murdered in three cases were identified as – Uttam Rajak, Kalyan Lodhi and Shamburam Dubey – aged 50 to 60 years.
Fourth such case reported on Tuesday night, where victim security Guard named Mangal Ahirwar has been referred to Bhopal with fatal skull injuries, gasping for life. Ahirwar was targeted while on duty near Moti Nagar area on Tuesday night. Officers are awaiting his recovery for clues about the mysterious killer – now being dubbed as ‘stoneman’.
Two other guards were murdered under CANT and Civil Line police station areas on Sunday and Monday nights triggering panic and protests in the city. Local police are trying to make a breakthrough in cracking the identity of the killer.
In every case, the accused has struck in the dead of the night, picking his victims randomly from guards sleeping on the premises of a house or buildings. They were hit on the head with a blunt object, hammer and spades in two cases, police say.
Killings started in May this year, when a watchman of the bridge construction agency was found murdered under Makronia police station area. Deceased was identified as Uttam son Kanchedi Rajak (58), resident of Pipariya Karkat used to work as a watchman on the under-construction overbridge on Makronia-Banda Road. He used to come daily from Pipariya on night duty. Investigators found that the guard was murdered while sleeping. His head was smashed and a shoe was kept on his face. Makronia police station is yet to collect significant clues leading to identification of the accused.
It was, however, a ‘routine case’ for the police. Tension gripped when a security guard of Sagar’s Arts and Commerce College was found murdered on Tuesday morning. His body was found in the canteen area. This area falls under the jurisdiction of the Civil Line Police area.
Deceased was identified as Shambhu Sharan Dubey, 60, resident of Anand Nagar Makronia. Police said his head was smashed with a stone or any other blunt object like a hammer. He too was attacked while at sleep, killing him on the spot. The FSL team reached the spot and gathered evidence. A bloodied stone was found near his body, which police suspect can be the murder weapon. Enraged by the incident, residents took his body on street and staged a roadblock demanding capital punishment for the accused.
Police had found a mobile phone near Dubey’s body. The SIM card was missing. Investigations found that the mobile phone was of Kalyan Lodhi, 57, another security guard who was hammered to death. Lodhi was working as a guard at a small factory in Bhainsa area under CANT police station area where he was murdered on Saturday night.
These murders came as a blow. Wednesday’s closed-door meeting at Sagar police headquarters thus went into the finer points of the operation to track down the killer and saw each sleuth being assigned a specific role. Officers say they will review security system in the area where the murders took place, sources say. Armed undercover policemen are also being deployed.
Police have dismissed perceptions that the murders, were committed by a ‘psycho’ killer, saying there was no psycho angle as feared by people.
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