HYDERABAD: One peculiarity about the nine `serial murders' reported in the past one year on the city fringes is that three of them were registered as cases of suspicious death.

One of these deaths -- that of Laxmi on December 29 -- was altered as homicide within a week after forensic doctors said the victim was strangulated to death. The cases of Jagan and Kumar, reported nearly nine months ago, remained as suspicious deaths till the alleged serial killers recently confessed to have been behind them.

Cyberabad police said forensic doctors took nearly nine months to give the cause of death in other two cases and confirmed that the victims died because their heads were smashed with boulders.

Nine-month delay

How is it that doctors of the same Osmania Medical College Forensic Department gave a report within a week in one case and took nine months in the other cases?

Post-mortem report is issued by the forensic department within a week normally except in cases of preserving viscera. The reports are not sent through post. Police are supposed to personally collect the reports. "Police should follow up with us in cases of suspicious deaths," OGH Forensic Department Head Narayana Reddy said.

In the cases of Jagan and Kumar, not many tests that required a long time were conducted. Interestingly, the post-mortem reports were received soon after the alleged serial killers were arrested! This coincidence raised doubts of indifferent attitude on the part of police.

Pattern

They could not notice the pattern of three people being killed in same fashion by failing to secure the post-mortem reports. Equally interesting was the incident of the serial killers attacking an old man and a teenaged boy at Rajendranagar in December. While the teenager died on the spot, the old man managed to walk upto the main road and fell unconscious with head injury. Mistaking it to be a road accident, police registered a case under section 304-A (death due to rash and negligent act) of the IPC. It was changed to murder following confession by the killers.

Are there more cases akin to Jagan, Kumar and the old man waiting to be altered as murders? That is for Cyberabad police to decide and tell.

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