Cops play it safe in ‘beerman’ probe

Mateen Hafeez | TNN
Mumbai: Faced with the prospect of embarrassment in court over the south Mumbai killings probe, the police seem to be playing it safe by not filing the chargesheet as they don’t have any clinching evidence against alleged serial killer Ravindra Kantrulu.

Reformed robber Kantrulu (36) was picked up by the police before being first booked for theft and later for four of the seven murders that took place from October 2006 to January this year. The police claimed to have recovered a blood-stained shirt and a chopper from where he lived. Kantrulu is lodged at the Arthur Road jail.

While the police successfully filed a chargesheet in mid-May in one of the four murders that took place on January 11 on a foot overbridge near the income tax office at Marine Lines, it failed to do the same in the second case, resulting in Kantrulu’s bail on Saturday.

Following the serial killings that shook south Mumbai, the city police formed a special investigating team comprising 450 personnel, which nabbed Kantrulu.

Trying to explain their position, deputy commissioner of police Brijesh Singh (zone-I), who headed the SIT, said, “The bail is in one of the cases we booked him. The 90-day limit is for entitlement to the accused for bail. The magistrate has no right to ask for an explanation as to why the police didn’t file the chargesheet.’’

A few police officials, after Kantrulu’s arrest, were happy to divulge information on the interrogation and the various tests conducted on him (like brain-mapping, polygraph, brain-electrical oscillation signature and psychological profiling). But they clammed up when other murders took place near the railway tracks after Kantrulu was arrested.

A new theory was floated then—”the murders could be the work of Kantrulu’s associates’’ and the “associates’’ included a taxi driver, a tour operator and a tantrik. But all efforts to solve the murders failed. At least three more kiilings took place after Kantrulu was picked up. The D B Marg police arrested another drug addict, Abdul Salam Shaikh, for the murders and chargesheeted him on May 18. But no link has been established between Kantrulu and Shaikh yet.

The police, who claimed to have “two witnesses’’, failed to pick up any of Kantrulu’s “associates’’ and were yet to establish the identity of six of the seven victims allegedly killed by the suspect. He was booked for the murder of an unidentified man that took place on October 25 near the Bombay Hockey Association at Churchgate and also for a killing that took place on December 25 near Rukhsana Apartment, under the jurisdiction of the Azad Maidan police.

Officials said Kantrulu’s brain-mapping report was positive and admissible in court. They also claimed Kantrulu spoke about his modus operandi during the narco analysis and how and why he chose and killed his “targets’’.
mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

Kantrulu

The Times of India, June 3, 2007

Real estate boom lures underworld

GUNNING FOR LAND

It Has Pumped Crores Into Many Projects

Mateen Hafeez & S Ahmed Ali I TNN

Mumbai: The arrest of four hitmen who wanted to eliminate a city-based builder has once again brought the builder-underworld nexus into the spotlight.

In the past, builders were arrested for using the underworld to either get a plot of land vacated or to grab property. Now with the real estate boom, the underworld has directly entered the construction business and is learnt to have invested crores of rupees in various projects, said a crime branch officer.

Gangster Ashwin Naik, currently lodged at the Kalyan jail and wheelchair bound, is among those trying to resurface; he is learnt to have contacted a few developers in the city, in the hope of a stake.

Growing involvement of the underworld also came to light through a Rs 500-crore plot dispute at Parel in which, the police said, Baba Udaynath Maharaj tried to have a builder killed. The Maharaj who ran a math at Satara, came to Mumbai a decade ago and stayed at Kalachowkie. Hundreds of policemen, politicians, a section of developers, struggling film actors and models were said to be in touch with him.

“He told us that he was kidnapped on the instructions of Rashmikant Shah, head of Vijay group of developers, in the second week of January this year. He was taken to Kalyan jail where Maharaj was forced to meet jailed gangster Ashwin Naik. The gangster warned Maharaj to give up a redevelopment project. Upset with the threat, Maharaj gave a supari to kill Shah,’’ the accused have told the police.

Maharaj then allegedly contacted Vijay Warkar, NCP Mumbai’s vice-president, and hatched a conspiracy to kill Shah in the first week of February. Warkar, now behind bars, was provided with a photograph of Shah. Warkar is allegedly associated with the Chhota Rajan gang and according to the Juhu police he had hired the shooters. There are allegations that another builder had also taken help from Chhota Rajan in this case. The probe is on.

The shooters were caught on February 25 when they were waiting for Shah to come out of Hotel Holiday Inn. Warkar’s brother Sanjay, also a Chhota Rajan gangster, was gunned down in an encounter in Chennai three years ago. Sanjay was said to be known to several developers in the city. The police suspect that the investigation of this land dispute could provide vital information about the buildermafia connections.

“On many occasions, gangsters call up builders either to threaten them or to do a project together. A section of builders is also using the underworld to stop their rivals. The crime branch is therefore probing all new projects, developers, and possible link of the underworld in any project,’’ said a senior police official. Several slum rehab schemes are among those being investigated by the police.

Elusive don Chhota Rajan’s wife Sujata and his brother Prakash Nikhalje have already been arrested for threatening developers in Chembur and using their company, Khushi Constructions, to expand into real estate. Similarly, Dawood Ibrahim’s brothers are alleged to have funded construction of the Sara-Sahara shopping complex at Crawford Market.

Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Arup Patnaik said, “We will definitely take action if we find any underworld-builder nexus.’’

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com
ahmed.ali@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, March 12, 2007

Cops rack brains to keep Kantrulu in jail

Serial Killer? Ravindta Kantrulu

SERIAL KILLING CASE

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: Faced with the possibility of a dead end in the probe into the serial killings in south Mumbai since last October, the police are working on a strategy to keep prime suspect Ravindra Kantrulu in their custody as long as possible.

The reformed robber was picked up by police and first booked on a charge of theft. The police later booked him for two murders when they recovered a blood-stained shirt and a chopper from where he lived. Kantrulu (36) is now lodged at the Arthur Road jail.

A few investigating team officials, in the initial days after his arrest, were happy to divulge information about the interrogation and the various tests conducted on him (like brain-mapping, polygraph, brain-electrical oscillation signature, psychological profiling and electro-einspallowgraphy). But they clammed up when other murders took place near railway tracks after Kantrulu was arrested.

Officials then surmised the murders were the handiwork of Kantrulu’s associates, including a taxi driver, a tour operator and a tantrik. But all efforts to solve these murders failed. At least three more murders have taken place after Kantrulu was picked up. Another drug addict, Salam
Shaikh, was arrested for one of those murders. But no link has been established between Kantrulu and Shaikh yet. Investigators have failed to recover any weapon or evidence or pick up any of Kantrulu’s “associates’’ and are yet to establish the identity of six of the seven victims supposedly killed by Kantrulu.

“None of his associates has been arrested yet and we can’t tell anything about the investigation at this juncture,’’ said deputy commissioner of police Brijesh Singh, who is heading a special team probing the case.

Though the court has sent Kantrulu to judicial custody till March 20, the police may again book Kantrulu on Thursday for a third murder to make sure that they again get his custody for some more time. He was likely to be booked for a murder that took place on December 25 near Rukhsana Apartment, in the jurisdiction of the Azad Maidan police, officials said. The unidentified man was stoned to death and also had multiple stab injuries.

Officials said Kantrulu’s brain-mapping report was positive and this was admissible in court. They also claimed Kantrulu spoke about his modus operandi during the narco-analysis test and also why he killed people and selected his targets. But investigators are yet to connect the murders and recover weapons used to kill at least seven persons.

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, March 8, 2007

Suspect had been detained in January

GRANT ROAD MURDERS

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: Abdul Salam A h i y ya Shaikh, the suspect in four murder and one att e m p t - t o - murder cases, was detained by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the south Mumbai serial killings two months ago. However, the SIT gave Shaikh a clean chit and released him.

Shaikh, 25, who hails from Vardhaman Nagar, West Bengal, has been booked in one murder.
Police sources said bookings in the other three will follow. These cases are separate from the seven south Mumbai murders that Ravindra Kantrulu, who is alleged to be a serial killer, is a suspect in. Shaikh has been booked for killing a youth, whose body was found on February 25 with at least half-a-dozen injuries near the railway tracks at Grant Road station.

Four days later, a 20-yearold migrant from Lucknow, Raju Pappu Gupta, was stabbed by an unidentified man near the tracks at Grant Road, but he survived. The next day, the D B Marg police picked up Shaikh from near the Baba Bahauddin dargah next to Bombay Hospital.

Shaikh, a Class IV dropout, came to Mumbai in 1999 for a job. He visited the dargah near Bombay Hospital and used to have the free food distributed to the poor there. Kantrulu was also a frequent visitor to the dargah. Later, Shaikh worked for a catering company on a temporary basis. However, this job had no steady income as he would be called only when there was any order to cook for a wedding. He then started hanging out with drug addicts near the dargah and started doing drugs.

“He has not admitted his involvement in the crime. We arrested him on the basis of an eyewitness’s statement. He will be booked in three other murder cases,’’ said an officer from the D B Marg police station. The other cases include the murder of an unidentified man in his early 30s who was found dead near the railway tracks on January 13, and the
murder of a man in his mid-20s whose decomposed body was found in a nullah with stab injuries. BMC sweepers found the body while cleaning the nullah near Grant Road.

The third case is the murder of a drug addict, whose body was found on the premises of a school adjacent to Grant Road railway tracks on July 7, 2006. The body had at least 18 stab injuries.

The SIT, while probing the seven south Mumbai killings, had picked up over 250 drug addicts, including Shaikh, in January. All of them had been subsequently released. Shaikh had been detained for two days. Finally, on February 6, the SIT booked Kantrulu in one of the seven murders.

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of india, March 5, 2007

Youth picked up for attack on migrant

R Kantrulu

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: The police on Friday picked up a 25-yearold drug addict who they suspect is responsible for the recent attack on a migrant near the railway tracks at Grant Road station on Thursday and for killing two others in the vicinity, police sources said.

The accused, Abdul Salam Shaikh, will formally be arrested on Saturday on charges of murder and attempt to murder. “We picked up Shaikh from near Baba Bahauddin’s dargah next to Bombay Hospital. A witness identified him and later he was taken into custody,’’ said senior police inspector Rajan Katdare of the DB Marg police station.

Two bodies with at least half a dozen stab injuries were found near the railway tracks at Grant Road railway station on January 14 and February 24.

The migrant from Lucknow, Raju Gupta, (20), was also found with stab injuries lying on the tracks in the same area. These incidents took place after the arrest of suspected serial killer Ravindra Kantrulu and hence raised questions about the police’s claims that Kantrulu was the serial killer. Kantrulu has been booked in two of the seven streetside murder cases that took place near Churchgate and Marine Drive between October 2006 and January this year.

“We are yet to bring Shaikh in front of Gupta. Then we will know for sure that he is the man who attacked him. But the witness has told us that he had seen Shaikh attacking a person on Sunday morning,’’ an officer said. Before lapsing into unconsciousness, Gupta gave the police a description of the man who had lured him to a secluded spot on the tracks and then stabbed him.

The attacker, according to Gupta, was in his mid-20s, five-and-a-half feet tall, wore a Nehru kurta and blue trousers and had a thin moustache.

Gupta was admitted to the Nair Hospital and the doctors attending on him said he was out of danger.

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, March 3, 2007

Grant Road murders add twist to serial killer case

CRIME ZONE: Policemen inspect the spot besides the railway tracks near the Grant Road station where Raju Gupta was attacked

Crimes After Kantrulu’s Arrest Have Police Wondering If Other Gangs Are At Work

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: Is there more than one person or gang behind the serial killings in south Mumbai? This is the question investigators are asking after the last three cases—the January 14 murder of a vagrant, the murder of a drug addict on Sunday and the stabbing of a jobless youth on Thursday, all near Grant Road station.

After the narco-analysis tests on arrested suspect Ravindra Kantrulu, a reformed robber who was picked up on January 14, the police were sure that he had killed at least seven people. But with cases cropping up after his arrest, the police are looking into the possibility of Kantrulu having associates or there being more than one killer or gang.

The police formed a 450-member special investigation team (SIT) to crack seven undetected murders that took place at Marine Drive and Churchgate from October 2006 to January this year. On Thursday, the railway police formed five teams of five officers. “The victims found on January 13 and February 24 were found lying near railway tracks and had stab injuries on the neck, abdomen and chest, which were similar to that of the south Mumbai serial killer’s trademark. One of the two deceased was also a passive homosexual,’’ revealed an officer.

The SIT, during its combing operation, night search and the round-the-clock patrolling, picked up around 1,000 drug addicts, beggars and history sheeters in connection with the seven murders in which most of the victims were homosexuals. They zeroed in on the 36-yearold Kantrulu, also a drug addict. Unsure of his involvement in the serial killings, Kantrulu was subjected to brain mapping, polygraph and narco-analysis tests twice. The police said Kantrulu admitted his role in the serial murders. “Kantrulu said he killed homosexuals since it was against Islam. Kantrulu had converted to Islam six years back,’’ said an officer from SIT.

On February 21, he was again subjected to a Brain Electrical Oscillation signature, psychological profiling, polygraph and electro einspallography. All the four tests were conducted at the Kalina forensic lab to corroborate the information collected from him during a series of tests at the Bangalore lab. He is the first man who was subjected to so many tests in a serial killing. Kantrulu has so far been booked in two murders out of a series of seven.
While Thursday’s victim, Raju Gupta, was accompanied by his attacker to the Baba Bahauddin dargah near Bombay Hospital for dinner, Kantrulu used to also have his dinner at the dargah.

After dinner, the attacker lured Gupta to Grant Road. Gupta told the cops that at around 12.20am, the accused moved away on the pretext of answering nature’s call. He returned after 15-20 minutes and attacked the dozing Gupta with a sharp weapon. Gupta sustained injuries on his head, left palm, fingers, abdomen and thighs. Most of the serial killer’s victims were also killed shortly after having their dinner. It is still not clear whether the attacker was a homosexual and had forced Gupta to have sex before attacking him. “We are yet to record Gupta’s statement and can’t say about the homosexuality angle,’’ said an officer.

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, March 2, 2007

Beer man subjected to further tests

OPENING A CAN OF WORMS

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: While a section of the special investigation team (SIT) is struggling to collect evidence against suspected serial killer Ravindra Kantrulu to prove his involvement in at least seven murders, the accused was on Tuesday subjected to a series of forensic tests at the state forensic science laboratory in Kalina.

Kantrulu is believed to have told forensic experts at Kalina that he liked red colour and hated those who wore this colour. He further said that he wanted to kill his last victim at Marine Drive, but had to kill him on a footover bridge near Income Tax office at Churchgate after he argued with Kantrulu over going there.

According to sources, Kantrulu (36) was subjected to four more tests after his return from the forensic science laboratory at Bangalore. The tests included brain electrical oscillation signature, psychological profiling, polygraph and electro einspallography.

All the four tests were conducted to corroborate the information collected from Kantrulu during a series of forensic tests at Bangalore last week.

“The intention to subject the suspect to a series of tests was to find out the motive behind the killing. The Kalina lab had conducted a brain mapping test on him before he was taken to Bangalore. These (recent) tests were just to corroborate the earlier information and tally the results,’’ said a police officer.

Incidentally, Kantrulu is the first person to be subjected to so many tests at the newly refurbished lab at Kalina.

“We have received the report and it will help us in the investigation. We are exploring all the angles and cannot reveal the content of the report,’’ said zonal deputy commissioner of police Brijesh Singh. While narco analysis test is not admissible as evidence in the court of law, in many cases in the past the courts have accepted brain mapping reports as evidence.

According to the police, the last victim whose body was recovered on January 11 this year was a passive homosexual. A lot of the information collected at the Bangalore FSL was said to be corroborated during the tests in Mumbai.

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, February 22, 2007

Religious bias made beer man target gays: Cops

Ravindra Kantrulu

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: The man suspected of serial killings in south Mumbai, Ravindra Kantrulu, alias Abdur Raheem (36), has admitted that he had killed many homosexuals because such sexual behaviour was condemned by Islam, said investigators.

Kantrulu, who is facing charges of theft and murder, admitted during a narco-analysis test that one of his motivations was the victim’s sexual orientation. “During the test in the Bangalore Forensic Science Laboratory, Kantrulu said Islam banned homosexuality and he hated people who indulged in unnatural sex,’’ said an officer.

Kantrulu’s modus operandi involved identifying pavement dwellers or vagrants who were homosexuals and then befriending them. “He would occasionally treat them to a meal, drug them and after they fell unconscious, would kill them,’’ said the officer.

According to Islamic law, men who indulge in sodomy are liable to be stoned to death.

Deputy commissioner of police (zone-I) Brijesh Singh said the Bangalore lab was yet to submit the results of the brain-mapping, polygraph and narco-analysis tests.

Kantrulu, a Hindu by birth, converted to Islam around six years ago after giving up crime. Kantrulu had been arrested under the National Security Act in the past for his links with the Amar Naik and Dashrath Rane gangs.

Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Arup Patnaik said, “He has been a robber, gangster and police informer and knows how the police would try to make him speak. He would counter investigators’ questions and confuse them. He would talk a lot about many things but not about these cases.’’

Meanwhile, the SIT has sent two more shirts of Kantrulu for a chemical analysis test. Earlier, the police had seized a blood-stained shirt and a chopper from him after picking him up on suspicion.

Kantrulu was booked on February 6 for one of seven unsolved murders committed in Mumbai’s streets between October last year and January this year.
mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, February 19, 2007

Serial killer being framed, says wife

Suchandana Gupta & Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Raipur/Mumbai: The wife of suspected serial killer Ravindra Kantrulu said on Friday that she fled Mumbai out of fear for herself and her children after her husband was made the prime accused by police in the south Mumbai serial killings case.

Kantrulu, who once worked for the Dashrath Rane and the Amar Naik underworld gangs, had attempted to leave his criminal past behind and became a paid police informer about ten years ago.

Anjali Kantrulu, 38, who is presently in Raipur, claimed that her husband’s knowledge of both the police and the underworld is what has actually got him into trouble. “My husband knows a lot of secrets about the underworld and the police. The police and the underworld ‘bhais’ are hand-in-glove. This is a conspiracy. My husband has been framed because he is a small fry who knew too much,’’ she said.

Anjali also said that she would speak publicly soon, but wants to meet her husband first. “I will speak out on February 20, but I need to have a word with my husband first. I have to meet him once. Can you help me?’’ she pleaded.

In Mumbai, a senior police officer involved in the investigation said that Kantrulu did know a lot about the police and underworld, but if the motive was to frame him he would have been framed by now. “We are taking our time to corroborate the facts and evidence in the case. The police do not frame innocent people,’’ said the officer who did not wish to be named.

Kantrulu, who is a prime suspect in seven murders, reportedly confessed to killing 15 people during narco-analysis in Bangalore on Wednesday.

The Times of India, February 17, 2007

Suspected Serial Killer Kantrulu’s Involvement With The Police And Mafia Was Not Known To Those Who Knew Him

TAKING THE LOW ROAD: The small alley in Dhobi Talao where Ravindra Kantrulu used to sleep on the street

Under a cloud of secrets

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Outside the Baba Bahauddin shrine near Bombay Hospital, the people who run food stalls, juice shops and paanbeedi stalls have suddenly become interested in the day’s news. They buy English, Marathi and Urdu papers and discuss the south Mumbai serial killings. This may not differentiate them from most Mumbaikars, except that they regularly met the prime suspect, 36-year-old Ravindra Kantrulu, everyday for the past several years.

“We are recognising his picture in the papers and so we are reading the news,’’ said one stall owner, who like most people refused to be named. “But before this we never knew he had a criminal past or was a police informer,’’ he added.

Kantrulu, who slept on the nearby 4th Marine Street, had been visiting the dargah for 15 years so he could eat at the shrine where ‘langar’ food, which is funded through charity, was distributed. “He seemed friendly with the police, but only now are we learning about his secret life,’’ said Irishad Sheikh, a stall worker.

Regulars at the shrine are now becoming acquainted with the cloud of secrets under which Kantrulu lived. “Though we don’t know much about him, he told us he left home when he was around 15. He told us his drunken father would beat his mother and when he intervened he was also beaten up,’’ said Saleem Shaikh, owner of a shop Kantrulu visited twice a week.

Kantrulu studied at Our Lady of Dolours School, Marine Lines, before dropping out and selling fruits on the streets as a teenager. His father, Parshuram, was a peon at the school. “His father lost most of their possessions through betting, which upset his mother. She used to beg. Sometimes, Kantrulu gave her money,’’ said Chand Shah, a beggar who has been visiting the Marine Lines shrine for 30 years.

After leaving home, Kantrulu took shelter with drug addicts at Dhobi Talao and visited the shrine thrice a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. With food being no problem, Kantrulu didn’t work. Several robbers also visited the shrine and one group befriended Kantrulu. Police said that he joined the Dashrath Rane gang and participated in at least seven crimes. “He knew south Mumbai well and provided them information. Soon he got a higher position in the gang, but was jailed for two years in the mid-1990s,’’ said a police officer.

In 1993, Kantrulu fell in love with a commercial sex worker, Anjali, and married her. They lived in a hut on 4th Marine Street. Later, he was arrested for attempted murder and jailed. In jail, he joined Amar Naik’s gang. In 1997, Naik was killed by police and Kantrulu was arrested.

While in custody, a police officer convinced him to lead a respectable life. Kantrulu was released on bail and became a police informer. “Six years ago, he converted to Islam and took the name Abdur Raheem,’’ said a shop owner near the Marine Lines shrine.

After his conversion, he started a fruit stall outside the shrine, but it was demolished by the BMC since it had no licence. His temporary shanty was also demolished when the road was widened. This led to a fight with his wife and she started living with her parents in Chhatisgarh more often.

Kantrulu’s attempts to reform through marriage, religion, becoming a police informer and running a legitimate business have now fallen apart. If he is the serial killer, then he lived a double life, informing the police by day and murdering at night.

Abdul Gani Shah, 84, who has been visiting the shrine since 1950 said he knew Kantrulu well. “I don’t think he has killed anyone. He would come here regularly, eat and leave quietly. He would smoke ganja or charas, that was all.’’

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, February 17, 2007

Narco tests confirm brain mapping results

SERIAL MURDERS CASE

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: Suspected serial killer Ravindra Kantrulu alias Abdul Rahim was subjected to narcoanalysis tests at the Bangalore Forensic Science Laboratory on Wednesday. Police sources said that during the tests Kantrulu admitted to carrying out at least four killings.

Kantrulu (36), who was arrested on January 22 on charges of theft, was officially booked in one of the seven serial murder cases on February 6. A brain mapping test was conducted on him on January 29 at Bangalore. A report subsequently submitted before the police stated that the brain mapping test yielded a positive result.

The special investigation team (SIT) probing the seven murders in south Mumbai took Kantrulu to Bangalore for the narco test on Monday night. Top sources in the police said that a set of questions was submitted to the forensic experts in Bangalore on Tuesday and the date for the tests was set for Wednesday. A team of four doctors led by Malini Subramaniam, assistant director, Bangalore FSL, started the tests at around 11 am. The tests continued for almost four hours.

Kantrulu was picked up for questioning in January and the police have recovered a bloodstained shirt and a chopper from him. When contacted, joint commissioner of police (law and order) Arup Patnaik confirmed that a narco-analysis test had been conducted on Kantrulu. However, he refused to divulge any further information about the results of the test.

Kantrulu, former associate of slain gangster Amar Naik, is alleged to have been involved in at least seven cases other than the serial killing charges.

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, February 15, 2007

SERIAL MURDERS CASE

Narco tests confirm brain mapping results

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: Suspected serial killer Ravindra Kantrulu alias Abdul Rahim was subjected to narcoanalysis tests at the Bangalore Forensic Science Laboratory on Wednesday. Police sources said that during the tests Kantrulu admitted to carrying out at least four killings.

Kantrulu (36), who was arrested on January 22 on charges of theft, was officially booked in one of the seven serial murder cases on February 6. A brain mapping test was conducted on him on January 29 at Bangalore. A report subsequently submitted before the police stated that the brain mapping test yielded a positive result.

The special investigation team (SIT) probing the seven murders in south Mumbai took Kantrulu to Bangalore for the narco test on Monday night. Top sources in the police said that a set of questions was submitted to the forensic experts in Bangalore on Tuesday and the date for the tests was set for Wednesday. A team of four doctors led by Malini Subramaniam, assistant director, Bangalore FSL, started the tests at around 11 am. The tests continued for almost four hours.

Kantrulu was picked up for questioning in January and the police have recovered a bloodstained shirt and a chopper from him. When contacted, joint commissioner of police (law and order) Arup Patnaik confirmed that a narco-analysis test had been conducted on Kantrulu. However, he refused to divulge any further information about the results of the test.

Kantrulu, former associate of slain gangster Amar Naik, is alleged to have been involved in at least seven cases other than the serial killing charges.

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, February 15, 2007

Brain mapping tests nail suspect in 4 of 7 murders

SERIAL KILLER?

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: Based on the brain mapping tests conducted on South Mumbai serial killings suspect Ravindra Kantrulu, the police now believe that he is involved in four of the seven murders which took place in the city between October 5 and January 11.

When contacted, joint commissioner of police (law and order) Arup Patnaik was non-committtal. Another senior officer said the bloodstains found on a shirt seized from Kantrulu matched the blood of one of the victims. Senior officers refused to go on record on the motive behind the killings. “We don’t want to disclose anything right now,’’ said an officer.

Kantrulu, a ‘reformed’ robber who lived in a shanty off Marine Drive, was first arrested on January 22 in a case of theft. Later, he was booked for a murder that occurred on January 11. The Azad Maidan police said the murder was committed on a foot overbridge near Marine Lines.

It was the last in a series of seven unsolved killings which took place between October 2006 and January 2007. In each case, the victim’s body was found either stabbed or stoned to death. In all but one of the cases, the victims remain unidentified. Kantrulu was formally charged on February 6 for the January 11 murder.

The police have recovered the bloodstained clothes Kantrulu was wearing at the time of the murder. Investigators have also seized a chopper which Kantrulu allegedly used to kill his victim.

The police also say that Kantrulu’s handwriting matches that which appears on a slip of paper found near the victim’s body on January 11.

A special investigation team was formed to crack the serial killings which had terrorised pavement dwellers in the area. At least 450 men, all selected from various police stations for their good detection record, were deployed across south Mumbai. Most of the policemen put on night patrol.

Police also picked up and questioned as many as 1,000 people including history-sheeters, drug addicts, beggars and pavement dwellers across the city.

Kantrulu, a former associate of slain gangster Amar Naik, was married to a former sex worker and had an eight-year-old daughter. According to sources, his wife had left their roadside shanty due to frequent fights. After he was arrested by the Azad Maidan police, she came to meet him from Raipur but left without any success. She claimed her husband was innocent and that he was not accustomed to drinking.

The Times of India, February 11, 2007

Blood-stained shirt provided first clue

LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: It was a blood-stained shirt recovered from 36-year-old reformed thief Ravindra Kantrulu alias Abdur Rahim Malik which led the police to suspect that he was the man behind a series of murders in south Mumbai.

Investigators learnt that Kantrulu was married to a former commercial sex worker and had an eight-year-old daughter. According to sources, his wife, Anjali, had left Kantrulu’s roadside shanty at Marine Lines due to frequent fights. She and her daughter now stay with her in-laws in Raipur where she works as a housemaid.

During questioning, the police found that Kantrulu was earlier associated with the Amar Naik gang and was involved in at least six robberies. A Std X dropout, Kantrulu had drifted
into crime and for some time was also member of the Dashrath Rane gang. He had been arrested thrice but had given up crime a few years ago when he converted to Islam. This Englishspeaking vagrant’s profile intrigued the police.

But it took two days of questioning before they could claim their first breakthrough: Kantrulu led them to a public toilet at Marine Lines where an ironed grey shirt was hidden. “He admitted it was his shirt and we also recovered a chopper,’’ said an officer. On closer examination, the shirt showed blood stains. Forensic tests are now on to match the blood type of the victim in the January 11 murder case with the stains on the shirt.

The police are aware that the evidence available so far is insufficient to stick in a court of law. “As of now we don’t have any clinching evidence of his involvement in the case. He has been booked as a ‘suspect’ so that he could be kept in police custody for a longer period,’’ said an officer from SIT. He added that the police were yet to receive the report of the brain-mapping done on Kantrulu on January 29.

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, February 7, 2007