Locals wake up to fear, panic and police warnings

NEW DELHI: Fear and panic gripped residents of Palwal town on Tuesday morning.

The locals had woken up to WhatsApp texts about a serial killer on the loose in their neighbourhood and also found police teams warning people to stay indoors.

A 43-year-old government official went on a killing spree in Haryana’s Palwal town, bludgeoning six persons to death with an iron rod in a two-hour-long mayhem in the early hours of Tuesday.

Such was the panic that many people decided to alter their routines with some even skipping their morning walks. Parents refused to allow their children to go out for tuitions or sports coaching.

Mohammad Naushad, a mechanic who lives a few metres from one of the murder spots, said he woke up to a phone call from his relative who asked him to stay indoors. “Someone sent me photos of the killer through WhatsApp. I circulated it to other relatives and friends in Palwal,” said Naushad.

Jawahar Singh Dagar, a gov- ernment school teacher, initially thought that the WhatsApp forwards were a rumour until he found a police gypsy shouting out warnings through a loudspeaker. “They kept announcing that a psycho with an iron rod was on the loose. They announced that the man had already killed six people and warned us to not let our children out,” said Dagar.

A few residents did dare to venture out and help police in the manhunt, but dense fog hampered the search operation. “I accompanied a police team during the search, but it is scary that something like this could happen in the heart of the town. Most of the killings happened outside the police station,” said Vikram Sharma, who lives next to the Palwal Hospital, where one of the murders took place.

Throughout Tuesday, residents hopped from one murder spot to another. The largest crowd had gathered outside a restaurant, where the scattered remains of a security guard was still visible in a pool of blood in the evening.

But the community left most scarred by the serial killings were the security guards of the town. Of the six persons killed in the early hours of Tuesday, three were security guards sitting outside. Two of them were keeping themselves warm with burning coal when they were attacked.

“My family has said that they won’t allow me to continue in this job. I tried telling them that this was an one-off incident,” said Raju Sharma, a guard outside an automobile showroom.

“It is not worth the risk,” said Rakesh Kumar, another guard.

According to a statement issued by the Haryana Police, Dhankar’s killing spree on Tuesday was during an unauthorised leave from work.

› I accompanied a police team during the search, but it is scary that something like this could happen in the heart of the town. Most of the killings happened outside the police station.

VIKRAM SHARMA, a local resident