Killers strike where they are loved most

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">KOLKATA: Trust no one — little-known in-laws, acquaintances or building caretakers. That''s the only advice Kolkata Police can give after analysing the spate of murders that have occurred in the city since January this year.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">The area within KP''s jurisdiction (which leaves out Kasba, Jadavpur, Behala, Regent Park, Garia, Lake Town, Baguiati, Dum Dum and Salt Lake) has witnessed 18 murders since the beginning of the year.Police cracked 13 of the murders. But instead of a feeling of satisfaction, the success left them shocked.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Fourteen of the murders were committed by people the victims knew. Worse, many of the murders happened when the victims had no inkling that their life was in danger. Most of the deaths were extremely painful — some were burnt alive and others bled to death after their neck was slit. As many as six were stabbed. Four were shot, two strangled and three burnt. One was drowned and another lynched while a third died after being slapped.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">In a few cases, the killers were so desperate to make sure of death that they cut the victims'' throats after shooting them. But the assassins chose their venues well. Though most victims were killed where they lived (some were husbands or cousins), only four of the 18 murders occurred at home. Streets were the most-preferred venue for killing a former friend but there were some out-of-the-way choices (the Maidan or a pond).</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Predictably, as in victims-knew-killers cases all over the world, most of the deaths were gruesome though the killers were murdering for the first time. Besides the Maidan killing (of a woman by a man she had sex with) and the murder of Rekha Chandok (apparently by a cousin) at her residence, there were two cases in which assassins killed two children to get even with their fathers. A 12-year-old girl was raped before death and 15-year-old Mohammad Kalimuddin was lured to Nalban to be killed.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Then there were the three deaths by burning, one of them committed by Manab Haldar of Charu Market. In a fit of rage, he killed his wife and four-year-old daughter because he suspected his wife of being unfaithful. Suspicion of infidelity caused another gruesome death — Anil Mandal of Jatin Das Road killed his wife by smashing her head with a rolling pin.</span></div> </div>