The Mumbai Crime branch will now assist the Kolhapur police in investigating the mystery of the Kolhapur killer.
Minister of state for home Satej Patil on Wednesday said that a team of crime branch officials would be sent to Kolhapur soon. Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police (crime) also confirmed the move.
He said, “A team of crime branch officials has been sent to assist the local police.”
In the last three months, Kolhapur has witnessed 10 murders, all of them beggars, who were killed in a similar pattern — heads bludgeoned with a stone or attacked with a sharp weapon. The murders have been committed when the beggars were asleep. The crimes were discovered the next morning.
The Kolhapur police has been at its wits end in trying to apprehend the serial killer. More than 100 policemen have been patrolling the city throughout the night, keeping a watch on suspicious elements. However, they have not been able to apprehend anyone; to make matters worse, the 10th body of a victim was found in Laxmipuri. Shakuntala Jadhav, a 65-year-old beggar, was found lying in a pool of blood outside a Reliance Mall under the jurisdiction of Laxmipuri police station.
Vijay Jadhav, superintendent of police, Kolhapur, however, claimed that the woman had suffered a head injury and did not confirm if she was murdered.
He, however, admitted that there were five murders in Kolhapur, which fit a “pattern” of a serial killer or killers who could be involved in killing people.
However, RTI activist Dilip Desai, claimed that the police is not revealing the actual figures of those murdered.