In a dramatic turn of events, Delhi Police have arrested Devender Sharma, a 67-year-old Ayurvedic doctor-turned-serial killer known as Doctor Death, from an ashram in Dausa, Rajasthan. Sharma had been on the run since August 2023, after jumping parole while serving multiple life sentences in Tihar Jail.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Aditya Gautam, Sharma was posing as a priest under a false identity when apprehended on Monday. He was convicted in seven murder cases across Delhi, Rajasthan, and Haryana, and sentenced to death by a Gurgaon court in one of them.
Sharma’s crimes are as chilling as they are gruesome. Between 2002 and 2004, he and his gang lured taxi and truck drivers under the pretense of booking trips, only to murder them and feed their bodies to crocodiles in Uttar Pradesh’s Hazara Canal. Their vehicles were sold in the grey market.
Before turning to murder, Sharma operated an illegal kidney transplant racket between 1995 and 2004, facilitating over 125 transplants for a fee of Rs 7 lakh per case. He used his BAMS degree to lend credibility to the operation, which involved doctors and middlemen across several states.
Sharma’s descent into crime reportedly began after a failed investment in a gas dealership, which led him to fraudulently launch a fake gas agency and join organ trafficking rings. His criminal portfolio eventually expanded to kidnapping, robbery, murder, and body disposal using crocodiles.
This is not the first time Sharma has evaded custody. In January 2020, he jumped parole and was on the run for seven months before being recaptured. In June 2023, he was granted parole again and disappeared by August 3. After an intense six-month manhunt through Aligarh, Jaipur, Delhi, Agra, and Prayagraj, police finally tracked him down in Dausa.
Police believe Sharma may have been involved in over 50 murders, although he has only been convicted in seven.
