Man plans watchmen’s murder after watching films:Accused wanted to kill policemen too, but a single mistake led to arrest / Part- 2

In Part 1 of Madhya Pradesh Crime Files, you read that three murders were committed in Sagar in August 2022 within four days. Each time, the victims were watchmen. The pattern of the murders was similar. Midnight, a guard on duty while sleeping, and the accused would strike them on the head, killing them. No robbery, no enmity, just death. People were terrified and saying that there was a serial killer in the city. Police had set up blockades, and searching was going on all night. A sketch was released, but the police were unable to reach the killer. Meanwhile, one day the police found a clue that unraveled the entire mystery and led them to the serial killer. The killer was none other than a 19-year-old boy, who had stained his hands with the blood of innocents to fulfill a dream of his own. Who was this boy? How was he caught? Read, Madhya Pradesh Crime Files… A mobile phone provided a clue to the killer
When Sagar police investigation teams had exhausted all leads, they received a technical clue. The mobile phone of watchman Shambhudayal Dubey, who was killed in the Arts and Commerce College premises and had been missing since the murder, suddenly switched on for a few seconds in Bhopal. As soon as this phone number, which was under surveillance, gave a signal, there was a stir in Sagar Police Headquarters. Officials immediately formed a 10-member special team and dispatched them to Bhopal in two vehicles. The team’s initial objective was to find out how this mobile reached Bhopal and who was using it? They had absolutely no inkling that they were about to reach the very person whom the entire police department was searching for. Police arrested at 5 AM
Upon reaching Bhopal, the challenge increased, as the mobile had switched off again. The last location received with the help of the cyber cell was from the Khajuri police station area. The police team scoured that area for several hours, but no trace of the accused was found. Around 3:27 AM, that mobile gave a signal once again. This time the location was in the Lalghati area. The police, without wasting any time, surrounded the area and at 5 AM, when the city was just waking up from sleep, they apprehended a young man. He looked ordinary and thin, but there was no remorse in his eyes. When the police asked his name, he said – Shiv Prasad. Confessed to another murder
After the arrest, when the Sagar police team was returning with the youth, about 40 kilometers from Bhopal, he made a revelation which sent shivers down the spines of the policemen. He calmly stated that just a few hours earlier, he had also murdered the guard of a marble shop in Bhopal. As evidence, the mobile phone of that guard from Bhopal was also recovered from him. Sagar police immediately informed Bhopal police. When Khajuri Road police reached the scene, the sight was chilling. 27-year-old guard Sonu Verma was lying in a pool of blood. On the night of September 1st, around 1:30 AM, the accused saw Sonu sleeping on duty and bludgeoned him to death by hitting him on the head with a heavy piece of marble. The entire incident was captured on a nearby CCTV camera. The journey from a village boy to a serial killer
Shiv Prasad alias Halku was a resident of Kenkra, a small village in Kesli block of Sagar district. This 19-year-old youth had studied up to 8th grade, but his nature was aggressive and combative from childhood. It was his habit to beat up classmates over small matters in school. He had no friends in the village because he used to fight with everyone. At just 13 years old, 6 years ago, he ran away from home and came to Sagar. From there, he took a train and reached Pune. In Pune, he started working in a hotel. Even when he occasionally visited the village, he didn’t socialize with anyone. One day, he had a dispute with the hotel owner over something, and he beat the owner so badly that he had to be admitted to the hospital. Learned English in Goa, returned to Sagar
After coming out of the juvenile correctional facility, Shiv went to Goa. There, while working, he also learned to speak and understand English. After some time, he returned to his village, and from here, the script of his bloody game began. On August 25, 2022, Shiv reached Sagar after traveling a long distance of 65 kilometers on his bicycle. He took a room in a guesthouse in the Kotwali area and began searching for his first victim. He created a sensation in Sagar by committing three murders one after another. After this, on August 30, he came to Bhopal by train, as he had realized that the Sagar police were after him. In Bhopal, he kept wandering around the railway station and bus stand, looking for an opportunity, which he found in the form of Sonu Verma. Dream of becoming famous and a gangster
What Shiv revealed during police interrogation could surprise any psychologist. He confessed that his sole motive behind these murders was to become famous. He wanted to become a gangster and for this, he chose the easiest path. Watchmen sleeping in deserted areas at night were soft targets for him, whom he killed one by one. He told the police that his next targets were policemen. He regretted killing the poor, but he regretted more that his dream of becoming a gangster remained unfulfilled. While being taken to jail, he told the policemen- I have indeed done wrong. Now I feel that I shouldn’t have killed the poor; I should have targeted the bad people. I even wanted to target the police. If only I had gotten a weapon, I would have done the job. I had dreamt big, of becoming a gangster, but unfortunately, it remained unfulfilled. I chose the wrong time and place, that’s why I got caught. The script of the crime was written after watching KGF-2, Pushpa, and Hacker movies. The investigation revealed that Shiv Prasad’s criminal world was entirely inspired by films. He wrote the complete script for becoming a gangster after watching three films – KGF-2, Pushpa, and Hacker. Ujjain’s gangster Durlabh Kashyap was his role model, and he wanted to be like him. Like ‘Rocky Bhai’, the character from KGF-2, he dreamt of becoming a don from an ordinary person. The film’s action and murder scenes greatly influenced him. Like the protagonist of Pushpa, he also used a bicycle. He covered a distance of 65 kilometers from Kesli to Sagar by bicycle. Not only that, after being caught, instead of bowing down to the police, he showed a victory sign just like ‘Pushpa’, as if he had no regret for his actions. Inspired by the film Hacker, he tried to learn cyber technology. That’s why, after stealing Shambhudayal Dubey’s mobile, he himself unlocked its pattern lock. Told his mother – people will start recognizing me
After his arrest, when Shiv’s parents came to Sagar to meet him, the atmosphere became somber. Seeing his mother, Shiv just said, “I made a mistake.” Hearing this, his mother Sitabai burst into tears. She told the police that when Shiv came home for Rakshabandhan, there was nothing in his behavior that would raise suspicion. His mother said – he did say one thing, “Soon people will start recognizing me.” At that time, no one had imagined that their son would choose this bloody path to make a “name” for himself. Court handed down life imprisonment
Sagar police quickly completed the investigation and presented the charge sheet against the accused Shiv Prasad in court. After hearing the case, the court found him guilty of murdering innocent watchmen and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The young man who dreamed of becoming a film gangster will now spend his entire life behind bars.