Serial killer on the prowl in Uttar Pradesh town as 9 women killed in 14 months in similar pattern; Cops release sketches

A suspected serial killer, who may have killed at least nine women in the past few months, appears to be on the prowl in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district.

The district police on Thursday released three sketches, which they had prepared on the basis of information received from the people, and appealed to the people to immediately contact the cops if they saw any one having similarity with the sketches.

Police officials said that the killings which had taken place under Shahi police station area in the district in the past few months had a similar pattern. ‘’ All the victims are women and all of them have been killed in almost the same way,’’ said a police official in Bareilly.

He said that the women were targeted while they were on their way back home after working in the fields in the evening and all of them were between 45 and 65 years of age.

‘’All of them were strangulated with a saree or chunri (scarf) and their bodies were dumped in the nearby fields,’’ the official added.

The killings and apprehensions that a serial killer might be on the prowl have triggered panic among the locals and the women had stopped venturing out of their houses in the evenings.

The last killing in the same mode was reported last month. The police had recovered the body of a 45-year old woman who had been strangled to death with a saree. ‘’We have appealed to the people to be on the alert and report any suspicious activity to the cops,’’ said the official.

According to reports, the police had apprehended some people on suspicion of the killings and considered the cases to be solved but the killings following the same pattern continued raising fears that a serial killer might be on the prowl.