'Dr. Death' praises Maharashtra cops for cracking case

This was one "salute" the Maharashtra Police may never have expected. Self-confessed killer medico Santosh Gulabrao Pol, now famous as 'Dr. Death', has praised the police for successfully cracking the cases of missing persons, which led to his arrest last week.

In a handwritten note to Superintendent of Police Sandip Patil on Thursday, he said: "SP Sir, firstly a great salute to you".

"Sir, if you pose me one question -- What was the need for all this? The reply would be simple. Sir, between 2003-2016, this was the same question asked to the corrupt officials of various government departments and the decaying society. The task of finding a reply to this question was taken up in July 2016 by LCB (Local Crime Branch) Satara's courageous officers and its police inspector Vinayak Vetal," the letter signed as S.G. Pol stated.

Police officials involved with the investigations refused to comment on the letter.

Meanwhile, Patil said that special teams have been set up to probe afresh the complaints of missing persons received on Wednesday.

The missing persons are: Vilas Vishnu Dhage, 45, untraced since 2001; Dipali Krishna Sanas, 21, disappeared since 2002; Mahadeo Sonu Chikane, 47, off-radar since 2012.

All these missing persons were residents of different villages in Wai sub-district and their relatives are now worried in the wake of the latest revelations.

Efforts are also underway to trace the body of one of Pol's victims, Vanita Narhari Gaikwad, who was killed by a lethal injection in an ambulance and then dumped into a reservoir of Krishna River on August 12, 2006.

"We are hopeful of a breakthrough in this search in Umbrej and Karad areas of the river soon," Patil said optimistically of the woman missing for 10 years.

A team of medical experts from KEM Hospital, Mumbai, arrived in Wai to conduct forensic analysis and DNA tests on the remnants of bodies and skeletons of the five other victims of Pol, whose bodies were recovered on Tuesday from his farmhouse.

On August 15, Pol, 41, confessed to the cold-blooded killings of Surekha Kisan Chikane in 2003, Vanita Narhari Gaikwad in 2006, Jagabai Laxman Pol in 2010, Nathmal Dhanaji Bhandari in 2015, an orphan Salma Shaikh in January and an 'aanganwadi' worker Mangal Jedhe in June, this year.

The investigations are headed by Senior Police Inspector of Wai Crime Branch Padmakar Ghanvat under direct supervision of SP Patil and Konkan Range IGP Vishwas Nangre-Patil.

Pol and his associate, a nurse Jyoti Pandurang Mandre, have been arrested and charged with the kidnap and murder of Mangal Jedhe, 49, on June 16, which blew the lid off the shocking crimes.

--IANS

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