NEW DELHI: A 24-year-old man arrested for raping and murdering a six-year-old girl in Begampur in northwest Delhi on July 14 has confessed to sexually assaulting and killing at least 15 other children, boys and girls, since 2009.

Ravinder Kumar , who was nabbed on Friday, told police that he abducted children after luring them with toffees or money, took them to an isolated spot, raped them and strangled them to death. He dumped the bodies in drains or fields or buried them.

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With little information at hand about the victims, police were able to establish Kumar’s involvement in six such deaths. While two of the victims were from Begampur, one case each was unearthed in Kanjhawala, Samaipur Badli, Mundka and Vijay Vihar.

Police teams are looking into similar instances in Noida, Aligarh and Badaun in Uttar Pradesh.

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Kumar’s crimes revived horrific memories of the Nithari murders of 2005 and 2006 in Noida, where several young girls reported missing were found to have been abducted, assaulted and murdered by Surinder Koli, a help in a businessman’s house. Koli was awarded death sentence which has been commuted to life. Many of the cases remain unsolved.

Accused arrested earlier too

Kumar's name surfaced when police were probing the disappearance of a six-year-old girl. An FIR on charges of abduction was filed. "The body of the girl was found in a half-constructed three-storey building 50m from her house," DCP (outer) Vikramjeet Singh said. She had been raped and strangled. An FIR under IPC sections of rape, sexual assault, sodomy, murder and destruction of evidence and section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was registered.

A search of the site threw up some papers and a driving licence belonging to a man named Sunny. Police found Sunny in a hospital. "Sunny said his friend Ravinder, his brother Sunil and a third friend assaulted him a few days ago and took his bike, licence and cash. Sunny managed to escape," the DCP said.

Piecing together the clues, police concluded that at least one of Sunny's attackers was behind the six-year-old's death. Kumar's records revealed he had been arrested earlier for assaulting a minor boy in Begampur last year and granted bail later. Within 24 hours, Kumar was arrested from Outer Delhi.

As police questioned him about the murders, Kumar broke down and confessed to having assaulted and murdered many more children.

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"He abducted the boy near his house after luring him with money. He escaped after strangling the boy and slitting his throat, assuming that he the died. However, the child was saved as cops found him bleeding in the septic tank of an under-construction building in Begampur. Kumar was subsequently arrested. In the same year, he targeted a three-year-old girl in Samaipur Badli," a senior police officer said.

Police have also found him to be involved in the assault and murder of a girl in Kanjhawala in 2011 and another case, the details of which are being ascertained, in 2010 in Mundka. He had also targeted another boy in Vijay Vihar in 2009. Having worked as a driver in Noida, Kumar is suspected of several such attacks in Badaun, his native place, Noida and Aligarh where he was staying with relatives. Police are still verifying and corroborating the details.

DCP (outer) Singh said a special team had been formed to probe the cases. "We are verifying all his claims. The connected FIRs and families are being identified. He has confessed to having targeted at least 15 children," he said.