Retired Army captain goes on rampage in Palwal, kills 6

Modi lied about Muslim women going on Haj alone: Congress

A retired Army captain, believed to be mentally ill, on allegedly bludgeoned six persons to death with a rod in a killing spree here that lasted about two hours, police said.

The accused, identified as Naresh Dhankhad (45), went on the rampage between 2 to 4 am in a two km stretch between Agra Chowk and Camp Colony, taking advantage of low visibility due dense fog.

He killed his first victim in the second floor of a private hospital, before hitting the streets to kill five others and injure one, reports PTI.

A resident of Macchgar near Ballabhgarh, Dhankhad also attacked the policemen when they tried to nab him.

He had joined the Army in 1999 as a lieutenant and taken retirement on medical grounds in 2003. He then joined the Haryana Agriculture department as an assistant development officer in 2006, a police spokesperson said.

He was working as a sub-divisional officer with the Health Department.

His first victim was a woman named Anjum who was an attendant of a person admitted in the ICU of the hospital.

He then went to Agra Road intersection where he killed three more people. Then a little farther, he killed two others by repeatedly hitting them on the head.

Gajraj said as soon as the police received information, they started sending people, who were either sleeping or working outside, indoors.

She said checkpoints were set up in the town, which is 80 km from Delhi. “When we zeroed-in on him, he was searching for another target and almost had his seventh victim as he had injured him,” she said.

He was arrested around 7 am when he was roaming in a street near a private hospital in Palwal, the SP said, adding that thick fog in the town had reduced visibility making it easy for the accused to target the victims.

Dhankar tried to resist arrest and even assaulted the policemen before being overpowered, she said.

The SP said that Dhankar appeared to be mentally ill. However, doctors would be able to throw more light on this, she added. New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of lying that the government has removed the restriction and will now allow Muslim women to travel to Haj without a male attendant.

“PM caught lying once again! Lie: Mann Ki Baat 31 Dec - Muslim Women can now perform Haj without a male member.

“Truth: Saudi Arabia in 2015 - Women below 45 years can’t do Haj without male companion. Women above 45 can do Haj in group of four,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.

Modi announced on Sunday that the government had changed the law by permitting Muslim women to travel for the annual Haj pilgrimage without any male attendant.