RUPNAGAR: Police in Punjab's Rupnagar have arrested a man for allegedly killing 11 persons in the past 18 months, officials said on Tuesday.

The accused, identified as Ram Saroop alias Sodhi of village Chaura in Hoshiarpur district, was arrested on Monday in another case and during interrogation it came to light that he was a "serial killer", they said.

Police said his victims were men whom he used to offer lift in his car, and then rob them and kill them if they resisted.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Rupnagar, Gulneet Singh Khurana said that instructions were issued to police officers to solve the cases of heinous crimes in the district.

Khurana said a police team was formed to nab culprits involved in murder cases.

Referring to a murder case in Kiratpur Sahib, he divulged that a man aged about 37 years, who used to serve tea and water at Toll Plaza Modra, was murdered on August 18.

The investigations in this case led to the arrest of Ram Saroop and later his involvement in other cases got revealed during interrogation, police said.

Police said his victims were men whom he used to offer lift in his car. He used to later rob them and kill them if they resisted.

During the interrogation, the accused admitted that apart from this case, he had committed 10 other murders, the officials said.

The accused has also admitted to have committed killings in Fatehgarh Sahib and Hoshiarpur districts, they said.

He used to strangle his victims while in some cases he used objects like bricks to commit the crime, police said.