BAREILLY: “No dacoity is complete without a murder”, Salman Khan told UP Police interrogators a few days ago, his matter-of-fact confession shocking even the toughest of the cops.

Salman was 16 when he committed his first murder . Ten years later, the dreaded dacoit and leader of the Rohilkhand-based Chaimar gang has shocked UP Police by “confessing” to 57 murders in 10 years. It makes the 26-year-old, recently arrested during a robbery, India’s most prolific ‘serial killer’ ever, second only to Behram Singh, a thug, who is said to have bludgeoned more than 150 people to death in the 19th century.

“Once we started interrogating him, his confession opened a tale of brutality. You name any district in the region — Bareilly, Badaun, Pilibhit, Kannauj, Shahjahanpur, Kanpur or Hardoi — and he would narrate the sequence of the crimes he committed there over the years,” Bareilly circle inspector Asit Srivastava told TOI on Saturday.

Interrogators were struck by the cool manner in which Salman recounted the murders he claimed to have committed. “His gang’s modus operandi was to eliminate witnesses first and then ransack a house for cash and valuables,” said Srivastava. “Salman showed no remorse while reeling out 50 cases of robberies during his confession.”

Srivastava has now asked for a booklet to be prepared on the appearance, attire and methods of the gang and distribute it in vulnerable areas. “There are seven to eight splinter groups of the gang by now led by Salman’s associates. They are all on good terms with one another and with Salman himself,” he said.

The gang’s exploits are reminiscent of the dreaded Thugs of the 19th century as well as their ruthlessness and secular beliefs. “Claiming descent from Punjab, the ancestors of the Chaimar gang made Rohilkhand their area of operation. All the members are illiterate. They come from different faiths and celebrate Hindu and Muslim festivals in the same spirit,” police officials said.

“We were misled by the claims of innocence of Mohd Hanif, 21, who was arrested with Salman and another member, Azad Ali . It was only after Badaun police representatives arrived that we found out that Hanif himself had killed 13 people there,” said inspector Mohd Qasim of the Baradari police station.

Police now plan to crack down on their ‘harbourers’, including lawyers and guarantors, who take them out of jail on fake bail bonds. The next task of the cops is more difficult: the remaining dacoits on the run have no permanent address. “Every time they are picked up for questioning, they give a different name, making it difficult to match their identity,” officials added.

