The Mystery of Stoneman Murders
Have you ever imagined what is behind the malicious and deceiving mind of a serial killer? What is it that triggers the urge to kill someone and what is it in their victims that makes them choose someone over others? The case we are going to discuss today will compel you to rethink these questions.
The investigation lasted for over 35 years, with more than 30 murders and three states Involved in the investigation. this is the story of a serial killer who gave sleepless nights to the police of three states of India. the killer who was never caught, A killer who Inspired a Bollywood movie in 2009 named “Stone Man Serial Killer”.
The Killings
Murders in Bombay
1985, Mumbai, which used to be Bombay back then. The police found the abandoned dead body of a man sleeping on the pavement by the road in Mumbai’s Sion area. whose head was crushed with a large stone. The condition of the body was very bad and he was about to die. The police do not find anything that can help in the identification of his dead body. This was the time when the underworld gangs were dominant in Mumbai. the gang-related violence was at its peak. the police had to deal with such bodies every day. The police did not find anything specific in the initial investigation, so they started waiting for someone to recognize this dead body or file a missing complaint at any nearby police station. A few days passed and no one came forward to identify the dead body. Since no new information in hand, the police do not pay much attention to this case and the investigation of this case gets shelved. Over the next few months, the police found more dead bodies in similar patterns from Sion and King’s Circle areas, but the police failed to establish a connection between them.
After about 6 dead bodies, An officer of Matunga police station discovered the similarity between all these Murders. the police in their investigation established that all these murders happened around 11 PM- 4 AM and the murders were only happening on Tuesdays and Sundays. Apart from this, all the victims were people doing odd jobs for a living like street beggars. apart from this, all these people were sleeping alone in a secluded area on the pavement at night when the killer attacked them and took their lives.
The police soon increased night vigilance in King’s Circle, Matunga, and Sion areas, and they activated their Khabri Network. Meanwhile, the horrors of murders also became known to the media and public. A famous publication house in Mumbai addressed this killer for the first time by the name of The “Stone Man Serial Killer”. this news terrorized the public and created a stir among the people of Mumbai. People started avoiding going out late at night, and the fear was to such an extent that people in this area used to close their shops early and head towards their homes early. A few more months pass and then the police see hope when a waiter from a Udupi restaurant escapes a similar attack, he is then admitted to the hospital in a semi-conscious state by the others, where He records his statement with the police.
According to his statement given to the police, he was sleeping on the roadside when he heard footsteps near his head. When he opened his eyes in panic, he realized that a man was standing near his head with a big stone. The man then smashes the stone on the waiter’s head to crush it, the waiter somehow saves his life but he gets badly injured. at the same time he told the police that, it was very dark, and due to the sudden nature of this attack, he could not see the killer and the police were clueless once again.
A few more months pass and Mumbai Police get a tip about a taxi driver Mohammad from its Khawari network which was actively looking for clues to track down Stone-man killer. Mohammad has been around in the same area late at night for the last few days. While driving his taxi, he was observed with suspicious activities on the roadside, then later it was revealed that Mohammad was a police khawari who was helping police and was trying to find some clues about this killer. Due to his suspicious attitude, the people sleeping on the roadside may have mistaken him for the Stone Man Killer. After all, the police investigation once again hits a dead end. then One day in mid-1989 these murders stopped in Mumbai.
It had been almost 2 years since the first killing and the killer had taken the lives of about 12 innocent people, the political and public pressure was mounting on the police. but even after millions of efforts, nothing concrete could be found. months passed but no other case came to light and the people of Mumbai finally had some relief.
Murders in Calcutta
It had been almost a year since the murders stopped in Mumbai, and then the police in Calcutta, the capital of Bengal, started discovering the dead bodies of men sleeping on the roadside in the area next to Howrah Bridge in Central Calcutta. The murders in Calcutta have striking similarities to the murders that took place a year ago in Mumbai.
In one such case, the police also recovered a big stone from the incident site which had some blood stains on it, the police guessed that perhaps the man might have been crushed to death by this stone. the weight of this stone was about 20–30 kg. And the police assumed that the killer must be a strong well-built man because lifting such a heavy stone is not everyone’s cup of tea. People were arrested on the basis of doubt and the murders in the city suddenly stopped.
Even after several days of rigorous interrogation, the Calcutta Police did not find anything concrete and finally, they had to release everyone to the public after a few days and the Calcutta Police investigation finally came to a dead end. The killer was a strong man was just a guess and the police did not have any concrete evidence to back this assumption.
Murders in Guwahati
20 years pass and no case of Stone Man serial killing comes to light. Then comes the year 2009. In the same year, a film on “Stone Man Killer” is released in the theatres. KK Menon and Arbaaz Khan were in the lead roles. After this, suddenly in February 2009, in Guwahati Assam, police were rattled by the discovery of dead bodies in a similar pattern, and in the next 6 months, about 11 dead bodies were found. And after all the efforts Guwahati police don’t have a clue or lead to follow on the killer. Then suddenly one day the murders stopped in Guvahati and This time again the police failed to catch the killer.
Conclusion
Though the weapon, timings, execution method, and choice of the victim were quite similar in these murders in all three cities. the police have still failed to verify whether all these were done by the same killer or a copycat serial killer is also involved. It has been almost 39 years since the first case of the Stone Man murders came to light, but still, the police of these three states could not catch this killer. It is possible that the Stone Mind Serial Killer is still living a free life among us.
Also, read
> Cyanide Mohan, from a simple school teacher to the man who Terrorized whole of Karnataka State
> Who killed Shruti Hill, a mystery that still haunts the heart of India?
