MP serial killings: Teen accused not psychopath, has criminal mindset, say cops

Shivprasad Dhurve (18) is accused of killing three watchmen in a space of 72 hours in Sagar in late August and then bludgeoning another security guard to death in Bhopal hours before he was arrested.
Representational Image. (File Photo)
Representational Image. (File Photo)

SAGAR: A teenager arrested for allegedly killing four watchmen over the past few days in Sagar and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh was not a psychopath but had a criminal mindset, police officials said on Saturday after the accused was questioned in custody.

Shivprasad Dhurve (18) is accused of killing three watchmen in a space of 72 hours in Sagar in late August and then bludgeoning another security guard to death in Bhopal hours before he was arrested on Friday.

"He is not a psychopath. He has a criminal mindset. He is behaving like an ordinary person. We have contacted police in Goa where Dhurve alias Shiva and Halku has worked in order to get more information about him," a top police official told PTI on Saturday night.

"He is well-versed in social media and knows a bit of English as well. He killed the four to make quick money as he robbed all his victims," the official added.

Sagar Superintendent of Police Tarun Nayak said Dhurve had confessed to the four murders, adding that he was influenced by social media and was desperate to become famous.

Dhurve allegedly killed Sonu Verma (23), who was a security guard in a marble shop in the area, by hitting him with a marble pillar in Khajuri area of Bhopal on Thursday night, police said.

Earlier, he allegedly killed factory guard Kalyan Lodhi with a hammer in Sagar in the intervening night of August 28-29, then allegedly murdered Shambhu Narayan Dube (60), who was on duty as security guard at an arts and commerce college, in the intervening night of August 29-30 under Civil Lines police station limits.

His third victim Mangal Ahirwar was a watchman of a house and was allegedly killed in Moti Nagar area in the intervening night of August 30-31.

Police said the killing of a guard in Bhopal in May was also being probed for possible links to Dhurve.

He was arrested in Bhopal on Friday after police managed to track the location of the mobile phone he had stolen from one of his alleged victims.

A local court had remanded him in police custody for one day, and police got his custody for another day after producing him in court on Saturday evening.

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