New Delhi: Devender Sharma, a serial killer serving seven life sentences and a death sentence was arrested by the Delhi Police from an ashram in Rajasthan after he jumped parole for the second time. Sharma, also known as ‘Dr Death’ is suspected to have killed at least 50 people and disposed of their bodies in a crocodile-infested canal.
Sharma (67), was a registered Ayurvedic practitioner from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. He used to practice medicine at a Janta Clinic in Bandikui, Rajasthan, for 11 years till 1994, when he was scammed of Rs 11 lakh, his life savings, while attempting to open a gas dealership.
Sharma then returned to Aligarh and opened a fake gas dealership. He started targeting truck drivers carrying gas cylinders to different dealers. He would kill the drivers and dispose of their bodies in the river. He would steal the cylinders and sell the trucks in the grey market.
Between 1998 and 2004, he became involved in a kidney transplant racket, facilitating more than 125 transplants across Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan with the help of another doctor and middlemen. He admitted to earning Rs 5 to 7 lakh per transplant as an intermediary who arranged kidney donors, the police said.
Sharma had a gang by now and between 2002 and 2004, he was responsible for the abduction and murder of numerous taxi drivers. He would hire taxis from Delhi and then kill the drivers and dump the bodies in the crocodile-infested Hazra Canal in Kasganj in Uttar Pradesh. The stolen taxis were then sold in the grey market for Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 each.
While Sharma was subsequently arrested and charged with the murders of 21 taxi drivers, he is supposed to have told the police that he killed more than 50 people. As the bodies of the victims could not be recovered in most cases, he was convicted and sentenced to life for only seven murders.
According to the police, his wife and children left him after coming to know of his crimes.
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 sent to Tihar Jail.
Once again, Sharma managed to obtain parole for two months and walked out of prison in June 2023. He again jumped parole till the Delhi Police tracked him down to an ashram in Dausa, Rajasthan, where he was living as a priest.
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, the police said.
