Serial Killers of India: Episode 1 - Doctor Death
Known as “Doctor Death,” Devendra Kumar Sharma shocked India after a respected doctor was exposed as a serial killer linked to illegal kidney rackets and multiple murders
Crime series often introduce us to terrifying serial killers, people who murder repeatedly, often driven by greed, thrill, or power. In this series, we bring you some of India’s most shocking serial killers.
In Episode 1, we look at the chilling story of “Doctor Death” — Devendra Kumar Sharma.
Born in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, Sharma earned a B.A.M.S. degree in 1984 and ran a successful Ayurvedic clinic in Jaipur for over a decade. But after losing ?11 lakh in a fraudulent gas dealership scheme, his life took a dark turn.
By the mid-1990s, Sharma had entered the criminal underworld. He became part of an illegal kidney transplant racket operating across Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, allegedly arranging over 125 illegal transplants and earning lakhs from each surgery.
At the same time, he and his gang targeted gas delivery trucks and later taxi drivers in Delhi, Gurgaon, and Faridabad. Gang members posed as passengers, lured drivers to isolated areas, murdered them, and sold the stolen vehicles illegally. Many bodies were dumped into the crocodile-infested Hazara Canal, making recovery almost impossible.
Police believe Sharma may have been linked to nearly 100 murders.
His network finally collapsed in 2004 after investigators exposed the kidney racket and connected him to multiple killings. He received life imprisonment in several cases and was later awarded the death penalty for the murder of a taxi driver.
But the story did not end there.
In 2020, after being granted parole, Sharma disappeared and secretly started a new life near Delhi. In 2023, he vanished again after another parole release.
For months, police searched across multiple cities until they discovered a mysterious priest living in an ashram in Rajasthan. Dressed in saffron robes and living as a holy man, Sharma had completely changed his identity.
Police officers posed as devotees to confirm the truth before finally arresting the 67-year-old serial killer once again in May 2025.
From respected doctor to one of India’s most feared serial killers, the story of “Doctor Death” remains one of the country’s most chilling crime cases.
