BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh police on Friday arrested a man who had allegedly killed three security guards in Sagar city of the state and another in Bhopal.
Before the man was arrested for the three murders in Sagar, he killed a fourth person in Bhopal's Khajuri area on Thursday night, police said.
The accused, identified as "Shiv Prasad", was arrested early Friday morning on the basis of the location of a mobile phone which he had picked up from a victim in Sagar, said state Home Minister Narottam Mishra.
"It was a difficult task. It was a blind murder. I congratulate Sagar police. They chased him down as he was carrying the mobile phone of the second or third victim of the serial killing he committed. Based on the phone's location he was nabbed from Bhopal," Mishra told reporters here.
Before he was caught, he murdered one more security guard in Bhopal and he admitted to it during questioning, the minister added.
As per his Aadhaar card his name is Shiv Prasad and he lives under Kesli police station limits in Sagar district, Mishra said.
"We picked up the accused in the early hours from Bhopal. There is high probability that he is the main person behind the incidents in Sagar. Our investigations are underway," Sagar Inspector General of Police Anurag had told PTI earlier.
The accused killed one Sonu Verma (23) by hitting him with a marble pillar in Khajuri area here on Thursday night, said local police station in-charge Sandhya Mishra. Verma worked as a security guard in a marble shop in the area, she told PTI.
The apparent serial killing began in Sagar city, 169 km from Bhopal, where Kalyan Lodhi, who was in his 50s and worked as a guard at a factory, was killed on the intervening night of August 28-29 under Cantt police station limits. His head was found smashed with a hammer.
Shambhu Narayan Dube (60), who was on duty as security guard at an arts and commerce college, was killed on the intervening night of August 29-30 under Civil Lines police station limits. His head was found smashed with a stone, police said.
Mangal Ahirwar, watchman at a house, was killed in Moti Nagar area on the intervening night of August 30-31 after being attacked with a stick.