Police say the accused convinced young women to elope with him, satisfied his lust, poisoned them and left with their valuables
Police say the accused convinced young women to elope with him, satisfied his lust, poisoned them and left with their valuables
Mohan Kumar (45), a physical education teacher who allegedly became a serial killer, was caught by the Mangalore police for killing 18 women and robbing them of jewellery over the last five years. The police stumbled upon him while investigating the case of Anitha, who went missing from her hometown Bantwal in Mangalore district on June 17. Anitha was Kumar's 18th victim.
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Inspector General of Police (western range) Gopal B Hosur said, "Kumar would first befriend girls with the line Do I know you? I have seen you somewhere."
If the girl responded positively, Kumar would introduce himself and befriend her posing as an eligible bachelor.u00a0
After a couple of meetings, he would propose and persuade the girl to elope with him to a nearby town. He would then spend a night with the girl in a lodge, promising to marry her at a temple the next day.
Next, Kumar would take the girl to a nearby bus stand and make her take two cyanide pills, claiming that they were contraceptive pills. He would warn the girls that they were likely to vomit after consuming the pills and so it would be better if they swallowed the pills in the washroom of the bus stand.
"The women would take the tablets and within minutes drop dead. He would then flee from there taking gold valuables from them," the IG said.
Murder sites
Ten of the murders took place at Mysore bus stand, three at Madikeri bus stand, two at Hassan bus stand, two at Bangalore bus stand and one at Kollur temple in Udupi district.
On finding the bodies, the local police would invariably register it as a suicide due to a love affair gone awry. But when the Bantwal police probed his link with Anitha, he was caught.
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Recovered: The bagful of cyanide pills among other items jewellery and mobile phones of victims the police seized from alleged serial killer Mohan Kumar alias Anand |
More victims?
Hosur said, "We have verified all his confessions and found dead bodies of women in different places like Mysore, Bangalore and Madikeri."
Superintendent of Police A S Rao said, "The arrested person is unable to recollect the names of some girls. There are chances that the investigation will reveal more victims."
Who is mohan?
Mohan Kumar alias Anand is a resident of Kanyana in Bantwal taluk, near Mangalore. He was a physical education teacher in Kanyana.
He joined the service in 1980 on a temporary basis.
He had divorced his first wife while his second and third wives lived in separate homes.
After being sacked in 2003, Kumar allegedly hit upon the idea of luring young women, having sex with them, killing them and robbing them of their valuables for quick money.
Parallels with 'Cyanide' Mallika
Mohan Kumar's horrific tale of crime is similar to Mallika aka Cyanide Mallika alias Kempamma alias Jayamma who poisoned over 10 women and robbed them of their valuables. Mallika, who started her crime spree in October 1999, was finally caught by the Bangalore police on Dec ember 30, 2007, while she was trying to sell stolen jewellery. Her modus operandi was to trap women in distress and take them to temples and lace their food with cyanide. After killing the women, she would decamp with their jewellery. All her victims were found in temples, while Kumar would also allegedly lure his victims to temples at major cities like Bangalore and Mysore.
Mallika began her killing spree after incurring a huge loss in the chit fund business and also separating from her husband. Kumar's criminal career is said to have begun in 2000, when he tried to throw a girl who refused to marry him into the Nethravati river. A witness called the police and he was detained on attempted murder charges. Though he was released on bail, the criminal offence lost him his school job. In 2003, he began his alleged serial killing spree.
Director General and Inspector General of Police Ajai Kumar Singh said in a release that the case was a rude awakening for young ladies falling into the trap of such offenders, especially since the victims had not informed their family about the issues.
22
Average number of murders in Bangalore per month
30
The number of rapes recorded in Bangalore's Urban and Rural district (26 from the city area alone) before May 1. Belgaum recorded 15 rapes
How safe is our city?
|
Crime |
2008 |
2009 |
|
Murders |
258 |
192 |
|
Dacoity |
54 |
23 |
|
Robbery |
300 |
270 |
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