In a gruesome discovery, police on Friday found skeletal remains of at least eight children who are believed to have been sexually abused before being murdered in Noida on the outskirts of Delhi.
The suspected serial killer Surender alias Satish, a domestic help, has been arrested along with his master Mohinder Singh Pandher, a factory owner from whose house the skeletons were found in gunny bags.
The victims appeared to be among some 38 missing children in the past one year from Nithari village in Sector 31 of Noida indicating that the number of those murdered could be much higher.
Senior Superintendent of Police R K S Rathore said the 30-year-old domestic help from Almora in Uttarakhand confessed to killing six children and a 20-year-old girl Payal by strangulating them after sexual abuse.
Surender had lured the children, under 12 years, by offering sweets and toffees.
Investigations were on to find out the role of his employer Pandher who owns a factory in Noida and in Chandigarh.
The saga of the missing children came to light when skeletal remains were recovered from a drain abutting the house of Pandher.
The remains were found in gunny bags. Not far away from this area, the kidnapping of Anant Gupta, a nursery student and child of a multinational executive, last month made news headlines.
The child was recovered after a ransom of Rs 50 lakh was paid.
Rathore said Surender was in possession of the girl Payal's mobile phone and further interrogation revealed that he had killed seven persons, including her.
A C Sharma, additional director-general of police, Uttar Pradesh, said investigations were on to find out whether Pandher had any role in these killings as the girl was suspected to have had an affair with him.
Jagmohan Yadav, inspector-general of police (Meerut Range), who inspected the house, said parents of two girls who had gone missing about a year ago reported to police three days back that they had found clothes and slippers belonging to the children in the drain.
Talking to reporters, he said police had since then kept the house under surveillance and last night a team of the Special Operation Group had picked up Surender.
Asked about the number of skeletons found in the house, Yadav said the exact number could not be given right now.
No perfect skeletons were found and the exact number of bodies could be given only after scientific tests, he added.