Bhopal's tailor-turned-serial killer, who drugged and killed 30 truckers, arrested

48-year-old Aadesh Khambra, a tailor, has confessed to have killed more than 30 people in the past eight years.

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BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Police last week arrested a tailor from Bhopal in what looked like a routine police action but little did they know that they have actually arrested a hardened criminal, a serial killer, who had murdered at least 33 people in cold blood.

According to reports, the 48-year-old Aadesh Khambra, a tailor by profession, was arrested by the authorities from Bhopal last week. During his interrogation, Khambra reportedly confessed to having killed at least 30 truck drivers and their helpers on the highways to loot goods transported by them and sell the truck.    

This tailor-turned-petty criminal committed the crime over the past eight years in his quest to “make more money”.

Not only this, the ordinary looking tailor also told police that he was a contract killer and had close links with more than half a dozen inter-state gangs.

Not only this man's story is shocking, the way he was nabbed by the police is also thrilling.

Sharing details about his arrest, MP Police officer Rahul Kumar Lodha told reporters on Wednesday that on August 12, a truck laden with 50 tonnes of iron rods left the Mandideep Industrial Area for Bhopal, but it went missing. 

A private company then lodged a complaint in this regard and the police, during the course of their investigation, found the body of the truck driver Makhan Singh in Bilkhiriya area.

Three days later, the authorities also recovered the empty truck from Ayodhya Nagar in Bhopal. 

After further investigation into the matter, the police arrested seven people, who sold and purchased the iron rods. When grilled by the police, the arrested persons told the authorities about Jaikaran Prajapati who in turn named Khambra as the brain behind the crime. 

Based on the inputs provided by the arrested persons, the police nabbed Khambra from Mandideep.

During his interrogation, Khambra revealed to the police how he would befriend drivers in roadside eateries and slip drugs into their food so they would fall asleep. He and his accomplices then drove their trucks to isolated areas, strangle them and their helpers, and dump the bodies in forests.

They would then sell the trucks and their goods through their contacts. The authorities also took the help of a psychologist while interrogating him. 

After the sensational revelations made by the tailor, the Bhopal Police swung into action and alerted its counterparts in the other three states - Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of MP. Several teams were sent to these states to get more information about unresolved murder cases of truck drivers and cleaners and to verify claims made by Khambra.

According to police, Khambra started out as a tailor in the Mandideep Industrial area, 25 km from Bhopal. In 2010, he came in contact with a gang from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, and joined them for earning more money. Initially, his work was just to befriend truck drivers and invite them to a roadside liquor party. Later, he started killing the drivers and cleaners by giving them sedatives. He was arrested by the Nagpur Police in 2014 but was released on bail, police said.

Khambra told police that he used to get Rs 50,000 for every case. When he joined the gang, his motive was to earn money but a few years ago his son met with an accident and he had to take loans for his treatment. He got involved in more crimes to repay the debt, as per his confession,” said Lodha.

Other than truck drivers and cleaners, Khambra also killed a man from Hoshangabad at the behest of a contractor who paid him Rs 25,000. 

Addressing a press briefing, Madhya Pradesh DGP RK Shukla said, "It’s a major achievement for the Bhopal police. The gang's connections have been found in neighbouring states. Primary investigation reveals that the gang has a pan-India network".

Khambra’s family had not visited him since his arrest.