Sketch of Gandhinagar serial killer released

AHMEDABAD: Officials of the special special investigation team (SIT) formed to investigate the three killings in Gandhinagar, which police say are the handiwork of a serial killer, on Saturday released a sketch of the suspect.
The killings have all occurred on Sundays or public holidays at secluded spots in the state capital.
With this in mind, Gandhinagar police have deployed extra personnel at secluded spots.
The SIT has so far detained seven persons for questioning. SIT officials said among those detained was one eunuch, but his role in the murders has not been established. “The others are being questioned and a few teams have been sent to other states, as mobile phone tower data indicates that some calls were made immediately after the killings to those states,” an investigator said.

Investigators said they prepared the sketch based on CCTV footage and eyewitness accounts. The killer was seen wearing a north Indian-style warm cap, sipping a cup of tea. The killer shot all three victims from contact range in the back of the head, with a sophisticated 7.65mm pistol, between December 9 and January 26.
An SIT official said the firearm used may have been stolen and seems to be a sophisticated one. “We suspect the firearm was stolen from another state and smuggled into Gujarat by the killer, who has some connection with the state,” the official said.
The spent cartridges found at the sites of the killings were made at ordnance factories.
“We trying to gather as much CCTV footage as possible, to establish the killer’s identity or to at least match the footage with the persons we are questioning,” an SIT official said.
On December 9, a Sunday, 74-year-old Kesha Patel, a resident of Shahibaug who ran a construction materials business at the open plot near Preksha Bharti Ashram in Koba, was shot dead. This murder site is about 1.5km from the Gujarat BJP headquarters.
On December 16, 65-year-old Jogaji Bharwad was shot dead from close range while he was sitting near a temple watching his cattle graze.
The third victim, also shot in the back of the head, was 45-year-old Juthaji Thakor, a resident of Shertha village.
He was killed near Adalaj on January 26, a public holiday.