Man gets death for killing 6 in 2018 in Palwal

Palwal, March 21

A district court has given death sentence to a 50-year-old man, who had killed six persons in January 2018 in the city here.

The death sentence was announced by the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Prashant Rana, today, after the culmination of the prosecution process that took over five years.

According to the prosecution, the convict, identified as Naresh Kumar Dhankhar, a local resident, had gone on a murdering spree on the intervening night of January 1 and 2, 2018, when he killed six persons whom he came across in about two hours. The accused was nabbed soon after he got involved in a scuffle with the police. He was an ex-serviceman and was working as an SDO in the Agriculture Department of Haryana at the time of the incident. The police who came to know about the first murder near the Moti Colony park found five more bodies. They were found dumped within a radius of 250 metres. It is reported that while Moti Ram (37), a night watchman, was the first victim, the second was Anjum (34), who was asleep in a corridor of a private hospital. She had come to attend to a relative, who had been admitted to the hospital, at that time. Other victims who were murdered before the police nabbed him were Sita Ram (50), Subhash (42), both security guards, and an unidentified 52-year-old person believed to be a beggar, who was asleep outside.

It is claimed that while the accused wanted to kill more persons after taking a break, he was overpowered by a police team. It is claimed that Naresh was mentally ill, a police official said. The motive or the immediate cause of provocation, why he went on a killing spree, was unknown as the accused did not give a clear reply. However, he said the background and behaviour of the accused pointed towards his ‘poor’ mental health. He was also booked for assaulting and abusing a cop on June 15, 2015 in Palwal.