Ex-Armyman Naresh randomly kills 6 innocent Indians in 1 hour

Palwal, Jan 3: A retired lieutenant of Indian Army, who was trained to kill soldiers of other countries, left a trail of six bodies of innocent Indians in an hour-long rampage with an iron rod as the weapon, in Haryana’s Palwal early on Tuesday.

The accused, Naresh Dhankar (45), was finally arrested from outside his estranged wife’s house. Police said all six murders were committed between 2.45 am and 4 am on Tuesday.

Among Dhankar's victims were a pregnant woman — his first victim, whom he killed by sneaking into a city hospital around2.45am — four security guards and a vagabond. None of the dead were apparently known to the killer.

They were attacked one by one, as Dhankar went in search of more victims after each murder. By the time cops caught up with Dhankar around 4am, the city was on red alert to capture the serial killer who had been identified in CCTV footage from the hospital. Dhankar was thrashed by the public and police, leading to a brain haemorrhage. He is battling for life at Delhi's Safdarjung hospital.

The cops are unclear about the motive or the trigger for the bloodbath. They suspect he was mentally unstable and depressed, possibly because of marital discord. It all started with Dhankar arrived at Palwal City hospital armed with a rod. He went to the first floor — as if looking for someone — and attacked the woman sleeping on the bench. He first woke her up by removing her quilt and then smashed her face and head with the rod. The woman, Anjum, died on the spot.

After the sixth killing, Dhankar walked to his in-laws' house in Adarsh Colony nearby. There, he called out to his estranged wife and son. When nobody responded, he started kicking the door. Hearing the ruckus, one of his wife's relatives, Ashish, came out of an adjacent house and confronted him. This was around 3.45am, a full hour after the first killing.

Dhankar attacked him as well but Ashish managed to run away and lock himself in his house. By this time, almost the entire city police force was out looking for Dhankar. Outside the hospital, Manshiram's body was the first to be discovered. It was found near Rasoolpur chowk by an SHO who was heading to the hospital to investigate the first murder.

In no time, the murder count rose from two to six as police kept getting calls about attacks by a rod-wielding man. The CCTV footage and grabs of the suspect were circulated amongst cops on Whatsapp and a red alerted sounded in the city by3.30am. Around 4am, cops received aPCR call about a man chasing another person on the road in the Camp area in Adarsh colony. Simultaneously, Ashish, the man who was attacked, too, called up the police.

Cornered in a lane, Dhankar attacked the cops but was soon overpowered and thrashed. Palwal SP Sulochona Gajraj said initial enquiry suggests that he was mentally unstable and had selected his victims at random. "We have recovered an identity card from him which suggests he is a retired Army man," Gajraj said.