In view of the common pattern adopted by the assailants in the cases of multiple murders in trans-Ganga area of Prayagraj, police are now working on the theory of involvement of some psycho serial killer gang in the murders.
Some superstition behind the killings is also not being ruled out, although the exact motive will only be clear once the gang members are arrested, police officials said.
As of now, Prayagraj police are groping in the dark as mysterious assailants are committing a series of multiple murders at will in a limited region of trans-Ganga area of the district since the past few years.
Despite arrests of members of two vagabond criminal gangs, police have failed to stop the murders, which have caused terror among locals.
The murder of five members of a family in Tharwai area was the recent such incident. Except the incident in Nawabganj, where a man hanged himself after killing his wife and three daughters last week, nearly all other such incidents have the same pattern and modus operandi.
In November last year, a similar incident took place at Gohri village of Phaphamau where four members of a family were killed and one of the female members was gang raped before being murdered. Police arrested some persons but later released them in absence of proper evidence and the incident remains unsolved till date.
{{/usCountry}}In November last year, a similar incident took place at Gohri village of Phaphamau where four members of a family were killed and one of the female members was gang raped before being murdered. Police arrested some persons but later released them in absence of proper evidence and the incident remains unsolved till date.
{{/usCountry}}The similarities between the pattern of multiple murders during last few years in different villages of trans-Ganga now suggest the involvement of a serial killer gang in the region, police said.
The assailants targeted houses that were at a distance from the village and isolated. The murders were committed at midnight or later when villagers and the victims were in deep sleep. In most of the incidents, the victims belonged to average or lower income groups. The assailants used sharp or blunt tools, commonly used in domestic or agricultural work, for killing their victims. The assailants did not take the risk of taking victims hostage and autopsy reports suggested that they were attacked in their sleep. Sexual assault and gang rape have been reported in many such incidents.
Meanwhile, arrest of two criminal gangs’ members earlier, in connection with multiple murders, has also raised doubts.
Last year police arrested seven members of vagabond criminal gang and claimed that they were involved in some multiple murders in the district, which included murder of five members of a family in Yusufpur in Soraon area along with incidents of multiple murders in Manda and Nawabganj.
In 2020, police teams busted a ‘Chhemar Gang (six murder gang) and claimed to have cracked the murder of four members of a family in Holagarh.
“All such incidents, where pattern of murders were similar, are now in being put in one frame. The assailants are targeting families with more women and fewer males. The house is located at an isolated place and is on the road with low boundary walls. Data of all such incidents, where a common pattern was adopted, is being studied to know if the same or similar gangs are committing the multiple murders,” SSP Prayagraj Ajay Kumar said.
He further said: “It will be investigated if such gangs are on the move or live in the same area permanently. Brutal murders and not loot have surfaced as the prime motive behind the incidents, which indicate towards involvement of some psycho-gang. The motive behind the murders may be mixed and the angle of some superstition as the cause behind the multiple murders is also not being ruled out.”