'Great Salute To You': 'Dr Death' Praises Policemen Who Caught Him

Satara, Maharashtra: This was one salute the police in Maharashtra probably never expected. Santosh Gulabrao Pol, dubbed 'Dr Death' for allegedly killing six people, praised the police for solving the murders that led to his arrest last week.

In a handwritten note to Superintendent of Police Sandip Patil on Thursday, Pol, 41, said, "SP Sir, firstly a great salute to you."

The letter signed "SG Pol" says: "Sir, if you ask me why I am doing all this, then the question should be asked to the corrupt officials from the (police) department and the dormant society between 2003 and 2016."

Pol, a man with a doubtful academic record who worked as a doctor in Wai town, has confessed to killing five women and a man.

He was caught when the police were trying to look for a missing woman who turned out to be Pol's last victim. The woman, Mangal Jedhe, had allegedly threatened to expose Pol.

The police chief said special teams have been set up to investigate more missing person complaints received after the sensational murders surfaced. Among those missing are Vilas Vishnu Dhage, 45, untraced since 2001, 21-year-old Dipali Krishna Sanas, missing since 2002 and Mahadeo Sonu Chikane, 47, missing since 2012.

All three were residents of different villages in Wai and their relatives have asked for an investigation after Pol's arrest.

The police are also trying to find the body of one of Pol's victims, Vanita Narhari Gaikwad, who was allegedly killed by a lethal injection in an ambulance and then dumped into a reservoir of Krishna River in 2006.

Four bodies were found at Pol's farmhouse in Wai, a small picturesque town at the base of the Mahableshwar-Panchgani twin hill stations, famous for many Bollywood film shootings.

Pol allegedly revealed that he had buried five women at his farmhouse and thrown a man's body into a water reservoir over the last few years.

Police said Pol's crimes were driven by "lust and robbery".