Close on the heels of a string of murders where the victims were all beggars in Shirdi, the authorities have decided to move the rest of the beggars out of the temple town to a rehabilitation home in Pune. However, the move has been termed as procedural, citing reasons of nuisance to public.

Shirdi saw six murders, all of beggars, in a span of about 30 days. All the victims were street dwellers murdered in a similar fashion — hit in the head by a stone — by some unknown killer.

“We are still investigating the murders. There are two suspects but the case is yet to get a clear direction,” said Sunita Thakare, superintendent of police (SP), Ahmednagar.

The Shirdi police on Tuesday filed a case in Rahata court on the basis of the complaints of the visitors to the temple town.

“We have approached the court under the sections of the Prevention of Begging Act of the Bombay Police Act, and submitted to the court that there was the need for rehabilitating the beggars as they were causing trouble to devotees in Shirdi,” the SP said.

The officer also said that about 125 beggars in Shirdi will be shifted to the Beggars Home in Pune after following all legal procedures and securing court orders.

According to sources, the shifting was to take place on Tuesday night itself.

Some five months ago, following increasing number of complaints of beggars troubling devotees, the local governing body had tried to send them away from the temple town. But soon they were back in business. However, this time round, many beggars in Shirdi are seen leaving the town on their own, fearing danger to their lives.

Cops suspect the serial killing of beggars might have been executed by some psychopath on the loose.

Psychopath on the prowlOn Monday, three bodies with heads smashed were found within a radius of 2km of the Sai Baba temple in Shirdi. The killings have taken the toll in the last month to six.

The police suspect the killings are the handiwork of a serial killer. There’s a fixed pattern to the killings. All the murdered are homeless beggars. All have been hit on the head. In every case the weapon was a stone. All the bodies were left covered with a bed sheet.