An alleged serial killer who is believed to have committed four murders in Hyderabad was arrested by Habeebnagar police on Friday, November 5. The accused, 48-year-old Mohd Qadeer, is a labourer and auto driver living in Borabanda, who had moved to Hyderabad from Karnataka’s Bidar district in search of work. He has been accused of killing three men by smashing their heads with a stone, while he killed another man by pushing him to the ground, resulting in a head injury. Qadeer was also involved in two theft cases from 2017 in Habeebnagar.
According to a police statement, on the morning of November 1, the body of an unidentified man was found lying in a pool of blood in front of a tiffin centre near Nampally. A helper working at the tiffin centre found the body when he showed up for work around 4 am, and reported it to the police. Investigation based on technical evidence and human intelligence revealed that Qadeer had allegedly killed the man on the night of October 31, when he was looking to steal cash from footpath dwellers.
Police said that as per his confession, Qadeer woke up the victim who was sleeping in front of the tiffin centre and demanded cash. When he refused, Qadeer allegedly hit him on the head with a slab, and left him after taking Rs 150 and a liquor bottle from the pocket of the victim, who died on the spot.
On the same night, Qadeer went to the Nampally station area, where around 3.30 am, he woke up an acquaintance named Khaja who was sleeping in an auto trolley and asked him to share his sleeping space. When Khaja refused, Qadeer allegedly hit him on the head with a stone, killing him.
Earlier on October 15, 2021, he tried to steal money from a man sleeping on the pavement near Nampally’s Murgi market, and allegedly killed him by pushing him down, resulting in a head injury. According to the police, Qadeer, who usually slept on the footpath at Ek Minar Mosque in Nampally at night, was also involved in another murder in Nampally in 2019, when he allegedly killed a beggar by hitting him on the head with a boulder.
In both theft cases from 2017, he was convicted for six months imprisonment, police said. He was arrested at Nampally Public Gardens in the morning hours of November 5.