Two men, who were inspired by the recent Bollywood movie, The Stoneman Murders — based on a real-life Mumbai serial killer, who killed 54 unwary people by crushing their heads with stones — have been caught and remanded to custody after they allegedly killed a couple of their friends in a similar fashion.

According to the police, Haresh Chunara (36) and Shivgopalsingh Thakur (37) had not even seen the movie, but have confessed to have been inspired by the film’s storyline that a local newspaper had carried.

The two, who have no regular jobs and are mostly dependent on free food doled out by trusts and philanthropic outfits, decided to break the record of 54 murders in the movie.

“They wanted to do one more killing and stop after 55 murders,” said a Rajkot police officer, adding that the two decided to begin with a couple of men, who were their drinking partners.

Haresh Chunara, the police said, was a small time bootlegger and also used to occasionally work on construction sites. Thakur earned a living as a driver, and sometimes doubled up as a construction labourer.

They said Chunara is a local man, while Thakur belongs to Madhya Pradesh. The two have no family, lived together and regularly ate at the local Sarvajanik Annshetra (a temple providing free food).

The investigations began after the police recovered a body with a crushed head near the Rajkot Marketing Yard on February 21. The man was later identified as Sanjay Koli, a petty criminal and a resident of Gundawadi. Two days later, on February 23, another man was found dead near the Rajkot Civil Hospital, killed in a similar manner. He was identified as Fransis Motes, another petty criminal. The police found that the two belonged to a gang that hanged out near the Green Land Chowkdy.

The police soon zeroed in on Chunara and Thakur, who admitted to have killed the two.

The police said the victims and the accused were part of the same gang. They used to drink bootlegged liquor near the Aji Dam site, and slept on the footpaths every night.

The police said the four also used to regularly chat with each other and read the local newspapers, and it was then that the idea to ape the serial killer, struck Thakur.

The police claim Chunara has also them that after they began the killings, he became afraid of his partner. Chunara believed Thakur might one day kill him in a same fashion, said the police.