Suspected mass granny killer dubbed 'Volga Maniac' with up to 32 victims arrested

Russian police have arrested a dad-of-two they suspect of being a notorious ‘granny killer’ dubbed the ‘Volga Maniac’.

Radik Tagirov, 38, is suspected of murdering at least 26 elderly women, aged between 75 and 90, in regions along Russia’s Volga river - one of the country’s most wanted criminals.

Last year, police offered a reward of three million roubles (£30,000) for information leading to the arrest of the 'Volga Maniac' after hunting him for several years, according to the BBC .

Investigators suspect his true toll of victims may be up to 32, and he has told investigators he “cannot remember” how many female pensioners he killed.

“I didn’t count,” he said.

“I only found out from the news.”

The mass killer has evaded Russian police since 2011.

Tagirov, who investigators say lives in the russian city of Kazan and has two children including a baby, is accused of gaining Access to the homes of the victims by posing as a social services worker or a residential maintenance official, before using objects such as dressing-gown cords and electricity cables to strangle them.

He told his interrogator: “I choked them, with my hands from the back.

“I held on until the victim fell asleep, until she fell.

Tagirov has two children, including a child

Asked why he used this method of killing, he said it was “ quiet , fast (and) I don't know, painless ... for them, it seemed to me ... less painful”.

He stole money and valuables from his victims.

“I took the opportunity to take easy money ,” he said.

Asked why he had targeted elderly women he replied: “I cannot explain .”

Radik Tagirov at the police interrogation

Russia's Investigative Committee (SK), which operates like the FBI in the United States, said in a statement that Mr Tagirov's arrest came after extensive forensic research which suggested that the criminal acts against the women had been committed by one individual.

The SK also alleged that the "pattern" of a number of the attacker's actions appeared to match the behaviour of the suspect, and that the committee had made the decision to detain him following "painstaking and systematic work".

One of the alleged victims has been named as Nasima Ishmuratova, 91.

CCTV images of the suspect - and Identikit pictures - were earlier released.

A £36,500 reward was issued for information leading to an arrest.

The ‘Volga Maniac ’ was described at the time as having “good communication skills, and easily wins the confidence of older people”.

Identikit images and CCTV released during the hunt of the 'Volga Mania

Mirror