‘Beer Man’: Mumbai Serial Killer Who Terrorised ‘City Of Dreams’ But Remains At Large
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Most Shocking Crimes: It’s been nearly two decades, but the case of Mumbai’s so-called ‘Beer Man’ remains an enduring mystery. This killer is believed to be responsible for seven murders between October 2006 and January 2007, linked by the modus operandi and the location of the bodies.
All the victims – including, a cab driver, homeless drifters and drug addicts between the ages of 20 and 40 – were reportedly stripped naked from the waist below, suggesting sexual assault, and beaten or clubbed to death. All the bodies were found close to the Churchgate and Marine Lines stations of the city’s suburban railway line.
The moniker associated with the killer, however, is slightly misleading. It was based on reports that a beer can/bottle was found next to the victims, but this only happened in two instances. The first victim, beaten to death, was discovered on October 5, 2006, on a foot overbridge near the Marine Lines station. The case was initially believed to be an isolated incident, but it was clear by December 2006 that something more sinister might be at play.
More Dead Bodies Discovered
On December 14, 2006, a homeless man’s body was found near Churchgate station – also beaten to death. Next to the body, the police found an empty beer bottle, which was their only clue at that point in time. According to Malayalam news portal Mathrubhumi, a handwritten note was found next to one of the victims. “The note we have recovered is full of seemingly senseless, disconnected sentences that may reflect his state of mind,” said a senior policeman investigating the case, as quoted by the portal.
One sentence in the note stood out. It read, “Welcome to the clan.” This sentence, the report says, made the police believe that the serial killer was a homosexual. The police reportedly formed an 80-member Special Investigation Team to look into the case.
‘Suspect’ Arrested
When police found an ironed grey shirt in a public restroom near the Marine Lines station, where the last victim was found, it was seen as a major breakthrough. According to the Mathrubhumi report, pavement-dwellers in the area identified the shirt as belonging to a man named Ravindra Kantrole, said to be a local gang member who extorted money from hawkers and illegal establishments selling country liquor.
Kantrole, who was married and had a daughter, had had multiple prison stints.
He was now known as Abdul Rahim, having converted to Islam after coming into contact with a Muslim inmate during his time in jail, a report in Open magazine said. After converting, he reportedly attempted to get clean, quitting the gang to earn an honest livelihood, and even became a police informer. He was arrested on January 22, 2007.
Narco Test And Brain-Mapping
The Mumbai Police conducted several tests on Kantrole – narco-analysis, polygraph and brain-mapping – and said the results proved they had arrested the right man, according to a Times of India report. The report quoted police as saying that, during the narco-analysis, Kantrole admitted to killing 15 people, and being involved in 21 criminal cases in all.
During the tests, the report said, Kantrole also said he would make his victims drink beer before killing them. However, he reportedly denied sexually abusing his victims. While the Mumbai Police said the motive behind the killings was not clear, a senior officer told TOI on condition of anonymity, “He said he loves seeing blood.”
However, a source in Bengaluru, where the forensic tests were conducted, told TOI that Kantrole made no such claim. Kantrole also reportedly admitted that he was a drug addict, and that he committed the crimes under the influence of intoxicants like charas. Kantrole said his wife and daughter were not aware of the crimes committed by him.
Deputy commissioner of police (Zone 1) Brijesh Singh, who led the SIT, told the media that “preliminary forensic reports suggest that he has confessed to having killed seven people and that the murders took place between October 2006 and January 11”. Kantrole was officially booked in one of the seven serial murder cases on February 6, 2007. He was eventually charged with three killings.
Kantrole Gets Life Imprisonment
In January 2009, Ravindra Kantrole was sentenced to life imprisonment by a local court in one of the murder cases, as reported by news agency PTI at the time. Although the prosecution had sought the death penalty for him, the Sewree sessions court said the case didn’t qualify as “rarest of rare”. A fine of Rs 2,000 was also imposed on him.
Kantrole was convicted under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. The court pronounced the decision after accepting the evidence produced by the Forensic Science Laboratory. The court also stated that it had corroborated the statements of two eyewitnesses in the case. Kantrole was acquitted in the other two cases over want of evidence. In September 2009, however, the Bombay High Court acquitted Ravindra Kantrole citing lack of evidence, ruling many of the tests presented by the police as invalid. No other arrests have been made in the case since.
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