Maharashtra's doctor death' nabbed, confesses to killing and burying 6

Satara: A doctor from Maharashtra’s Wai town, arrested on Friday on charges of abduction and murder of a woman, confessed to killing at least six persons between 2003 and 2016 by administering them lethal overdose of medicines, police said on Monday.

Senior inspector of Wai police station said the doctor, identified as Santosh Pol, admitted to murdering four more women and one man. He is in police custody till August 19.

The Wai police on Monday night recovered the bodies of five people from Pol’s farmhouse, about 13 kms from Wai, and are interrogating him for the whereabouts of the sixth body. Pol, who is being called "Dr. Death," has told the police that he threw the sixth body in a dam in 2008.

At least five women were reported missing from Wai town since 2003.

Pol revealed about the details of his crimes during an interrogation into the murder of Mangal Jedhe, a 49-year old anganwadi worker.

Pol with the assistance of a nurse had allegedly abducted Jedhe, president of Maharashtra Purva Prathmik Shikshika Sevika Sangh (MPPSSS), and murdered her with the overdose of some medicines on June 16. They buried Jedhe's body near Pol's farmhouse.

“Jedhe went missing after she threatened Pol that she would expose his shady activities. Our information is that she was abducted from the Wai bus station by Pol and his nurse Jyoti Mandre and taken to his farm house where she was killed after administering overdose of some medicines,” MPPSSS general secretary Shaukat Pathan said.

The five other victims have been identified as Salma Shaikh, Jagabai Pol, Surekha Chikane, Vanita Gaikwad and Nathmal Bhandari.

Police suspect Pol’s lust for women could be one of the reasons behind the serial murders, however they are yet to determine the real motive. Satara Superintendent of Police Sandip Patil said that illicit relations and greed for gold and money might have prompted Pol to execute these killings.

Widening its net in the case, Satara police is now probing the authenticity of the alleged serial killer's medical degree too.