Panaji, May 4 (IANS) A 40-year-old man has confessed to having raped and killed three young women in the last 15 years, police said here Monday.
Mahanand Naik was arrested April 28 after being accused of rape by a woman. On the second day of interrogation, he admitted that he had killed 30-year-old Yogita Naik a few months ago.

A few days later, he said he had murdered 22-year-old Darshana Naik in 1994. After that, he confessed to having murdered 19-year-old Vasanti Gawde in 1995.

“We have some leads that indicate that the number of women killed by him may be much more than the three he has confessed to,” C.L. Patil, inspector in charge of Ponda police station, told IANS.

Police said Naik had followed an identical modus operandi while committing the three murders.

“Naik would befriend the victim and initiate a physical relationship by promising to marry her. He would then ask his victim to wear gold ornaments on the pretext of taking her to his home to meet her prospective in-laws,” a police official said.

“On the way, he would then take them to a desolate area, strip them before murdering them and stealing the gold ornaments and money. He stripped the victim to ensure that no once could identify the corpse in case someone stumbled on it later,” he added.

Police said that they would be sending Naik, who they claim is an unemployed alcoholic, for a narco test to probe the case further.

“It may be a lot more grave than what he has revealed up to now,” said Patil.

All the three bodies were found either buried or stashed behind thickets in remote wooded areas in and around Ponda in this state.

On the night of May 1, a mob of irate villagers burnt down Naik’s house after they learnt of his alleged involvement in the murders.