‘Dr Death’ arrested: Convicted serial killer, who dumped bodies in crocodile-infested canal’, traced to Rajasthan

This was the second time he had attempted to escape.

Sharma, a 67-year-old Ayurvedic doctor from Aligarh, was sentenced to life in seven cases of kidnapping and murdering taxi drivers between 2002 and 2004. In 2023, he was serving his sentence in Tihar Jail when he was granted parole and vanished.

Before his arrest, Sharma practiced medicine at the Janta Clinic in Bandikui in Rajasthan for 11 years. In 1994, he was scammed of Rs 11 lakh — his entire life savings — after he attempted to open a gas dealership, said police.

Police said Sharma returned home to Aligarh, where he operated a fake gas agency. He began targeting truck drivers — killing them to steal gas cylinders they were transporting from different suppliers to Aligarh, said police. The bodies would be disposed of in rivers.

Between 1998 and 2004, police said he became involved in an illegal kidney transplant racket, facilitating more than 125 transplants across Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan with the help of another doctor and other middlemen. He admitted to earning Rs 5 to 7 lakh per transplant as an intermediary who arranged kidney donors, said police.

Between 2002 and 2004, police said Sharma — who had a gang by now — was responsible for the abduction and murder of numerous taxi drivers.

His modus operandi, police said, involved hiring taxis from Delhi. He then killed the driver and dumped the body in the crocodile-infested Hazra Canal in Kasganj. The stolen taxis were then sold in the grey market for Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 each.

Sharma was arrested and charged with the murders of 21 taxi drivers, although he later admitted to killing more than 50 people, said police.

As the police could never recover the bodies of the victims, Sharma would be given life imprisonment for the murders of only seven victims.

According to the police, his wife and children abandoned him after his crimes were revealed.

In January 2020, Sharma was released from Jaipur Central jail on parole based on good behaviour. He never returned.

A few months later, while gathering information on “wanted criminals in the area”, a Delhi Police Inspector got information that Sharma was living in Baprola with his second wife. He had started a property dealership but was soon caught trying to sell a disputed building in Connaught Place. He was arrested and put in Tihar Jail this time.

Once again, Sharma was granted parole for two months; he escaped in June 2023.

DCP (Crime) Aditya Gautam said, “A police team conducted discreet inquiries in Aligarh, Jaipur, and Delhi. They worked relentlessly and patiently, gathering information for six months across all possible hiding places — including Jaipur, Delhi, Aligarh, Agra, and Prayagraj. Their efforts led to the successful location of the convict in Dausa in Rajasthan, where he was hiding in an ashram, posing as a priest. The team camped there and met the accused, pretending to be a follower, and kept a watch to make sure that he was indeed Dr Devender. Upon apprehension, the accused admitted to his criminal past and said he had jumped parole, intending to never return to jail.”

Sharma is involved in 27 cases, including murder, kidnapping, and robbery. The fugitive has now been handed over to jail authorities for further legal proceedings, said police.