A court in West Bengal on Monday sentenced a 38-year-old suspected serial killer, known as the ‘chain man’, to death in a rape and murder case. Known as ‘chain man’, Kamruzzaman Sarkar was arrested last June in connection with rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl. Sarkar was awarded death penalty in the case by a district court in West Bengal’s East Burdwan district on Monday. He has been booked for the murders of at least nine women and raping two of his victims.
Sarkar was charged in 15 cases in two districts—Hooghly and East Burdwan. Out of the 15 cases, two were rape cases, seven murder cases and remaining six attempts to murder cases while his victims aged between 16 to 75. In a few cases, Sarkar was also booked under sections related to robbery as he had robbed the victims. All the crimes committed by the chain man took place between 2013 to 2019.
Bengal’s serial killer: The Chain Man
Originally from Murshidabad district, Sarkar used to stay with his wife, two sons and a daughter in East Burdwan.
Sarkar used to enter the houses of his prey on the pretext of taking the electricity reading and then attack the women, some of those who managed to escape his attack told the court. Sarkar would strangulate his prey with a cycle chain and then attack them on the head with an iron rod to ensure the victim is dead. His modus operandi of using a cycle chain to assault his victims earned him the sobriquet-‘chain man’.
According to Bhaskar Mukherjee, SP, East Burdwan district, Sarkar chose his victims carefully and usually operated in the afternoon when men of the house were away for work, adding that Sarkar would monitor the house of the victim for 2 to 3 days to ensure that his prey is alone at the home.
Sarkar’s belief in superstition led to his downfall
No one else but Sarkar’s own belief in superstition became the cause of his undoing. It was his red colour bike and helmet that led to his arrest last year.
Sarkar’s astrologer had allegedly told him that red was a lucky colour for him and so he persisted using his bike and helmet even when some women survived his onslaught and managed to escape, the police said.
However, after the gruesome murder of the 16-year-old teen, the police had formed teams and taken the help of local volunteers to arrest the culprit. Two civic volunteers informed the police that a man on a red motorbike had tried to barrel past the barricade. But, he lost his control and fell. The infamous ‘chain man’ was finally arrested by the police.
