Report from our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji (SP)
Panaji, May 7: The case of a serial killer who used to target ladies, is metamorphosing into a much more serious affair, with the killer confessing to two more killings, taking the toll to five so far.
Mahanand Naik (40) was arrested from Shiroda village adjoining Ponda town, 30 kms away from here. He has confessed to the killing of five young girls during the last one and half decades, by luring them into wedlock.
“The modus operandi of the killer was that he used to lure the girls by inviting them under the guise of introducing them to his father. He used to tell them to come, duly wearing gold ornaments and later, killed them and took away the ornaments they wore,” police inspector C L Patil explained.
All his victims were in the age group of 19 to 25 years. He has been committing this crime since 1994.
The accused, who was arrested for raping and blackmailing his wife’s friend on April 21, had confessed to have killed three girls till Sunday. On Monday, during the custodial interrogation, he confessed to the killing of two more girls, one in 2007 while the policemen are yet to disclose about the second one.
The arrest of the accused had solved three murder mysteries – Darshan Naik (1994), Vanita Gawde (1995) and Yogita Naik (2009).
On Monday May 4, the accused confessed to the killing Kesar Raghu Naik on June 18, 2007 by inviting her to Sanvordem town under the pretext of introducing her to his father. The police personnel said, the accused has admitted that he killed the victim and threw her body in to the river.
As the case has been hogging the headlines for the last almost a week in the local media, Kesar’s brother appeared at the Ponda police station, informing them about the disappearance of his sister, three years back.
The accused, who had befriended the girl, had then introduced himself as `Keshav’.
Policemen said that he has also confessed to one more murder but the details would be disclosed only after thorough investigation.
The police expect to unearth more such cases as the interrogation progresses.
The serial killer, now labelled as dupatta killer, used to befriend young women in the town and later lure them to isolated places and kill them. He had strangulated all the victims with their dupattas (veil).
In three cases – Darshan, Vanita and Yogita – he took them to isolated spots at Bambolim (near Panaji), Opa (near Ponda) and Morlem (Sattari taluka), the police said.
While the police had recovered two bodies – Darshan and Yogita, in a decomposed state, the bodies of the other victims, Kesar and Vanita, said to have been dumped into the river, were not found.