Last Updated:
Between October 2006 and January 2007, a serial killer in Mumbai murdered commuters near Marine Lines and Churchgate, leaving beer bottles as his chilling signature
Every time, investigators arrived to the same grim scene, they found a lifeless body with a beer bottle left behind. (Image for representation)
In October, 2006, a gruesome discovery shook Mumbai amid the usual rush of commuters at Marine Lines railway station. The body of a taxi driver named Vijay was found sprawled on a foot overbridge. Next to him lay an empty beer bottle, an object that would soon become the signature calling card of one of Mumbai’s most chilling killers.
At first, police treated the case like any other murder. But two months later, in December, another corpse surfaced, this time at Churchgate station. Once again, the crime scene carried the same sinister symbol – an abandoned beer bottle near the body.
Recommended Stories
By mid-January 2007, the death toll had risen sharply. Seven bodies were found within weeks, all between Marine Lines and Churchgate. Every time, investigators arrived to the same grim scene, they found a lifeless body with a beer bottle left behind, as if mocking the police. Panic spread among commuters while the city whispered about the shadowy figure the press had begun to call the “Beer Man of Mumbai”.
Despite multiple probes, investigators had little to work with. The empty bottle was the only trace the killer left behind, and no witnesses could link anyone to the crimes. The pressure mounted, and a Special Investigation Team was finally constituted.
The breakthrough came on January 22, 2007. Acting on suspicion, police detained a man named Ravindra Kantrol in the Dhobi Talab area. He was reportedly wearing bloodstained clothes, and officers recovered a dagger from his possession. The arrest unraveled the mystery that had terrorised Mumbai’s busiest train line.
During a narco-analysis test in February, Kantrol confessed to committing 15 murders. His motive was chilling in its simplicity. A drug addict, he admitted that after drinking heavily, he would lure victims into consuming beer and then bludgeon them to death. When asked why he killed, his response stunned investigators, “I love blood”.
Court proceedings followed. While police linked him to a string of killings, prosecutors could firmly establish only three cases. In January 2009, Kantrol was sentenced to life imprisonment for one murder, drawing the curtain on a case that remains one of Mumbai’s most bizarre and brutal crime sprees.
Loading comments…
Read More
