In a shocking turn of events, the Delhi Police Crime Branch apprehended 67-year-old Devender Sharma on Sunday evening from an ashram in Dausa, Rajasthan, where he had been living quietly under the guise of a priest.
Draped in saffron robes and projecting an image of spiritual devotion, Sharma had successfully evaded law enforcement for months.
But behind the serene facade lay a grim history—Sharma is a convicted serial killer, infamously known as ‘Doctor Death,’ with a trail of gruesome crimes including kidnapping, organ trafficking, and multiple murders.
Sharma, who once ran a private clinic in Bandikui, Rajasthan, had initially practiced medicine for over a decade. But a failed business venture in the early 1990s, where he lost Rs 11 lakh while attempting to acquire a gas dealership, pushed him down a dark path.
What followed was a descent into one of the most chilling criminal careers in recent Indian history.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Aditya Gautam, Sharma’s criminal record spans nearly three decades, with his name linked to over 27 serious crimes, including at least seven confirmed murder convictions. In one of these cases, a court in Gurugram even awarded him the death penalty.
Between 1998 and 2004, Sharma masterminded a vast illegal kidney transplant racket, operating across Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan. Working alongside other medical professionals and brokers, he is believed to have facilitated more than 125 unauthorized kidney transplants, earning between Rs 5 to 7 lakh per surgery.
Donors, often poor individuals from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, were coerced or misled into giving up their organs.
But his crimes didn’t end with organ trafficking. Sharma and his associates also targeted taxi and truck drivers, luring them with fake transportation jobs.
Once isolated, these drivers were murdered, their bodies dumped in remote water bodies like canals and rivers, particularly the Hazara Canal in Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh, notorious for its crocodile population.
The vehicles were then sold in the grey market, further funding Sharma’s illegal enterprises.
In 2004, police finally caught up with him, and he was convicted in several murder cases across Delhi, Rajasthan, and Haryana.
However, despite Sharma’s chilling confession of having killed over 50 people, law enforcement agencies could recover only a limited number of bodies, which hindered further convictions.
Despite the gravity of his crimes, Sharma managed to exploit the legal system. In January 2020, he was granted parole from Jaipur Central Jail and promptly disappeared.
Months later, Delhi Police located him in Baprola, where he was living with his second wife and running a property business. He was re-arrested after being caught attempting to sell disputed real estate in Connaught Place, and was then transferred to Tihar Jail.
In a disturbing repeat of events, Sharma was again released on parole in June 2023, only to vanish after August 3. The Delhi Police Crime Branch launched a multi-city search operation, which spanned Aligarh, Jaipur, Delhi, Agra, and Prayagraj.
Their investigation ultimately led them to the ashram in Dausa, where Sharma was living under a false identity, presenting himself as a spiritual leader.
“Our team conducted a covert surveillance operation,” DCP Gautam said. “They infiltrated the ashram posing as devotees and kept a close watch to confirm the identity of the man posing as a priest.
Once they were certain, Sharma was taken into custody. During interrogation, he confessed to his real identity and admitted to jumping parole, never returning to jail.”
This marks at least the second time Sharma has managed to escape parole and vanish from the public eye. With his re-arrest, authorities are once again piecing together the scope of his crimes and reinforcing the lapses in parole monitoring that allowed such a dangerous criminal to repeatedly slip through the cracks.
As of now, Devender Sharma remains in custody, and police are expected to intensify efforts to uncover any remaining accomplices and possibly locate the victims whose bodies were never recovered.
His arrest underscores not only the brutality of his crimes but also the alarming weaknesses in the justice and prison system that allowed a serial killer to walk free, not once, but twice.
