He hacked people for their habits

Chandrakant Jha killed people and dumped the headless torsos outside Tihar jail because he could not stand people eating meat, consuming alcohol or befriending women, reports Vijaita Singh.

The man who killed people and dumped the headless torsos of some of them outside Tihar jail has claimed he killed them because he could not stand people eating meat, consuming alcohol or befriending women, the police said on Monday.

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Chandrakant Jha, a 40-year-old vegetable vendor, was picked up from his two-room rented dwelling in Adarsh Nagar, north-west Delhi, on Saturday.

"Jha killed six men. They were all migrants from Bihar. He would give them shelter and pay them small sums to do odd jobs for him," said Rajesh Kumar, joint commissioner of police (southern range). Jha himself had come to Delhi from Bihar 21 years ago.

Since November 2003, Jha had dropped off four bodies outside Tihar and one each in Alipur and Mongolpuri areas, the officer said. Jha's family of six lived separately in Alipur.

Jha's last victim was Dilip, whose body was recovered outside Tihar on May 18. "Jha told us he killed Dilip because he did not like him consuming non-vegetarian food," said Kumar.

"He said he would get mad if he saw people eating meat, drinking alcohol or mixing with women. When he caught three people he knew doing so on different occasions, he tied their hands, strangled them with a piece of cloth and chopped off their heads and limbs with a large blade," Kumar added.

The police said Jha had over a dozen criminal cases against him.