TRIGGER ALERT: Some parts of the story have graphic details of the murders.
NEW DELHI -- Four horrific murders in the capital in a 10 kilometre radius in south Delhi with eerie similarities--all committed in the same fortnight--had sparked concerns that a serial killer might be on the loose. Three of the victims were found chopped up, while a fourth one was found with her throat slit.
However, top police officers investigating the murders claimed there was no connection between the cases. Joint commissioner of police (south west Delhi) Dependra Pathak, who was heading the investigation earlier, told HuffPost India that the incidents did not appear linked despite the similarities in the violent ways some of the victims were sliced after being killed. "My first-hand observation was that these are more of a coincidence," he said.
Meanwhile joint commissioner of police (south east Delhi) RP Upadhyay, who is now in charge of the investigation, said they had "substantial leads" in almost all the murders and were close to finding the murderers. He denied that any of them were sex crimes, but declined to comment further.
A source close to the investigation told HuffPost India that the crimes appeared to be motivated by personal vendetta. "In at least two of the murders, someone quite close to the victim seems to have committed the crime," said the source under the condition of anonymity. "We are expecting to make arrests in three of the murders in the next 24 hours."
It was the horrific nature of these crimes that first shocked investigators. One woman's decomposed body was found in a sewer tank in Munirka on 25 November. Her head had been chopped off, and is yet to be recovered. Meanwhile another woman's body was found five days later with her throat slit. She was stowed under a car in Pushp Vihar. Two days later, a man was found with his leg chopped off in Sangam Vihar. On 3 December, a young woman was found with the lower half of her body missing. Her body was stuffed in a black bag in Captain Gaur Marg near East of Kailash.
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