Delhi's 'Dr Death', who killed and fed victims to crocodiles, caught living as priest at Rajasthan ashram

Nearly two years after he jumped parole, serial killer and former Ayurvedic practitioner Dr Devender Sharma, infamously known as Doctor Death, has been arrested by Delhi Police from an ashram in Rajasthan’s Dausa district, where he was hiding under a false identity and posing as a priest, according to a TOI report.

Sharma, 67, who was convicted for multiple murders and running an illegal kidney transplant racket, had been serving a life sentence in Delhi’s Tihar Jail when he was granted parole on June 9, 2023, for two months. Instead of returning, he absconded once again — the second time after a similar parole jump in 2020.

DCP (Crime) Aditya Gautam was quoted by TOI as saying that the police had been tracking Sharma’s movements across several states, including Delhi, Jaipur, Aligarh, Agra and Prayagraj. After months of surveillance and investigation, they finally located him at an ashram in Dausa.

ARREST ALERT: Doctor Death The notorious serial killer & parole jumper fugitive is BACK IN CUSTODY! Convicted for murders of taxi drivers (2002-2004) Jumped parole in 2023 while serving life at Tihar Jail Mastermind behind kidnappings , pic.twitter.com/VvuPt46vWC

Crime Branch Delhi Police (@CrimeBranchDP) May 20, 2025

The arrest took place on Monday, following a six-month-long manhunt. According to the police, Sharma had seamlessly blended into the spiritual setting, assuming the garb and mannerisms of a priest.

A native of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, Sharma graduated in Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) in 1984. Initially running a clinic in Rajasthan for over a decade, his life took a sinister turn after he lost Rs 11 lakh in a gas dealership scam in the early 1990s. By 1995, Sharma had turned to fraud himself, setting up a fake gas agency - marking the beginning of his descent into crime, TOI reported.

Between 1998 and 2004, Sharma operated a notorious kidney transplant racket in collaboration with another doctor, Amit. Acting as a middleman, he is believed to have facilitated over 125 illegal kidney transplants, earning between Rs 5–7 lakh per operation. His clients were mostly affluent individuals in need of urgent organ transplants.

As per HT, Sharma’s criminality escalated when he began luring taxi and truck drivers under false pretences, only to murder them and dispose of their bodies in the crocodile-infested Hazara Canal in Kasganj, UP. The stolen vehicles were sold in the grey market for as little as Rs 20,000 to 25,000 each.

Sharma was arrested in 2004 in Gurgaon and later convicted in seven murder cases across Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana. He confessed to over 50 killings and his crimes earned him a death sentence in at least one case. He is linked to at least 27 cases of murder, kidnapping and robbery, as reported by the New Indian Express.

His horrific acts led to social and familial isolation, with his wife and children abandoning him years ago.

Despite his conviction, Sharma has twice managed to evade incarceration under the guise of parole. In 2020, he disappeared for seven months after a brief release, only to be rearrested in Delhi. The recent parole violation in 2023 prompted a renewed and exhaustive manhunt. Delhi Police have confirmed that Sharma is now back in custody and further proceedings are underway.