A glimpse of the Kumbh Mela currently underway in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh (File Photo) | Photo Credit: BCCL

Prayagraj: Police officials deployed at the Kumbh Mela currently underway in Uttar Pradesh caught a break when they stumbled upon a serial killer. Identified as Kalua Patel alias Subhash alias Sai Baba, the 38-year-old man has since confessed to committing as many as 10 murders in the past year.

A resident of Lalapur area of the district, Patel told police officials that he targeted people who made fun of him over his rumpled look. Police also recovered a blood-stained axe in his possession, says a report by Times of India. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Allahabad, Nitin Tiwari told the national daily that the Uttar Pradesh police has been on the lookout for a serial killer for quite some time now.

(A glimpse of the Kumbh Mela currently underway in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh)

We initiated operation 'serial killer' about six months ago, said Tiwari adding that a joint team of city police deployed at the Kumbh venue on Friday came across Patel who was seen carrying an axe. When questioned, Patel told police officials that he had murdered 10 people in the last year most of whom were labourers sleeping on the pavements.

Asserting that Patel 'seems to be of unstable mind', a senior police official told media personnel that the serial killer stalked his victims and struck them at night. He hit the victim's trachea with the axe resulting in instant death. Patel has reportedly confessed to murdering two labourers near Durga Puja Park in Kydganj on July 4 and another one in Daraganj on November 27. He told us that he murdered one labourer near Kotha Parcha area on December 24 followed by another one near Triveni Darshan Road on January 10 and another outside Udaseen Akhara campus in Kydganj on January 13, said Prayagraj police.

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