Meet Punjab ‘serial killer’ — abandoned for homosexuality, killed 11 men, former soldier among victims

The Punjab Police arrested a 33-year-old for allegedly killing 11 men in 18 months. Police identified the accused Ram Saroop alias Sodhi. He is a resident of village Chaura in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab.

Saroop was arrested on Monday in another case, and during an interrogation it came to light that he was a “serial killer”, police told news agency PTI.

Police said the man killed 11 people. Fives of those cases were confirmed, the Times of India reported. “During the investigation of murder cases,district police arrested Ram Saroop @ Sodhi S/o Kesar Singh R/o Vill.Choda PS Garhshankar dist.Hoshiarpur, who admitted to commit 11 incidents,” Rupnagar police posted on X.

Of the 11, three murders were committed in Ropar, one each in Fatehgarh Sahib and Hoshiarpur have been traced so far.

“He admitted the murder of Maninder Singh R/o Kiratpur Sahib , Mukander Singh R/o Begampura (Ghanauli) and Harpreet Singh R/o Rupnagar. Apart from this he also committed incidents in the area of district Hoshiarpur and Fatehgarh Sahib,” police said.

Motiv behind murders

Police said that the victims were men whom he used to offer lift in his car, and then rob them and kill them if they resisted. Meanwhile, the Times of India reported that the victims were primarily men whom he had encounters with, often after offering them lifts or engaging in sexual acts.

The report cited police as saying that the “motive behind the murders was mainly altercations or refusal by victims to pay him the promised amount.”

Who were the victims?

Referring to a murder case in Kiratpur Sahib, Senior Superintendent of Police, Rupnagar, Gulneet Singh Khurana informed that a man aged about 37 years, who used to serve tea and water at Toll Plaza Modra, was murdered on August 18.

The investigations in this case led to the arrest of Ram Saroop and later his involvement in other cases got revealed during interrogation, police said.

In one of the murder cases, the killer even wrote “dhokhebaz” (cheater) on the back of the deceased, a former soldier from Ropar working as a security guard in a private factory, the TOI reported.

“In most cases, Saroop reportedly strangled his victims with a piece of cloth, though in some instances, victims died from head injuries caused by blunt objects like bricks,” SP Navneet Singh Mahal was quoted by TOI as saying.

Killer abandoned by his family

SP Navneet Singh Mahal claimed that the accused was married and has three children. He said the the killer was abandoned by his family due to his homosexuality around two years ago. “His medical examination will be conducted to clarify doubts if he was infected with HIV,” the SP added.