Madhya Pradesh police on Friday arrested a teenager who bludgeoned his victims to death, in connection with the murder of four security guards in the last five days.
The 18-year-old, identified as Shivprasad Dhurve from his Aadhaar card, targeted sleeping security guards and killed three of them in Sagar district and the fourth one in Bhopal, the police said.
He killed the guard in Bhopal a few hours before his arrest earlier on Friday, the police said.
Sagar SP Tarun Nayak said Dhurve, who is 18 years and eight months old, has confessed to the four murders, adding he was influenced by social media and was 'dying to become famous.'
The police is also probing his role in the murder of another security guard in May.
Asked about Dhurve's mental state, Nayak said he appears to be normal and not a 'psycho' case.
The serial killer was arrested in Bhopal 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.
The police tracked Dhurve, a resident of Sagar district, as he was carrying the mobile phone of the second or third victim, Mishra said.
Dhurve 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, said local police station in-charge Sandhya Mishra.
His first murder was in Sagar city, 169 km from Bhopal, where he killed Kalyan Lodhi, who was in his 50s and worked as a guard at a factory, on the intervening night of August 28-29. Lodhi's 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.
