Devendra Sharma: From Doctor to Death, Feeding Corpses to Crocodiles

Devendra Sharma, a 67-year-old Ayurveda practitioner turned serial killer, was arrested on May 20, 2025, in Dausa, Rajasthan, after jumping parole. Known as ‘Doctor Death,’ Sharma’s gruesome legacy includes over 50 murders between 2002-2004, with victims’ bodies dumped in Uttar Pradesh’s crocodile-infested Hazara Canal to erase evidence. His chilling story, marked by a descent into crime and a marriage to a widow, reveals a man driven by greed and desperation.

Early Life and Criminal Beginnings
Born in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, Sharma earned a BAMS degree and ran a modest clinic in the 1990s. Financial losses from a failed gas agency pushed him into crime, starting with a fake gas racket. By 1994, he partnered with Dr. Amit for an illegal kidney transplant scheme, performing 125 operations over six years, per Amar Ujala. This marked his entry into a dark world, exploiting vulnerable patients and setting the stage for his murderous spree.

Modus Operandi: Murder and Crocodiles
Between 2002-2004, Sharma and his gang targeted taxi and truck drivers, luring them with fake trip requests. After killing them, they sold the vehicles on the black market and disposed of bodies in the Hazara Canal in Kasganj, where crocodiles destroyed evidence, earning him the ‘Doctor Death’ moniker. Convicted in seven murder cases with 27 charges of kidnapping and robbery, Sharma faced life sentences and a death penalty from a Gurgaon court, as reported by India Today.

Parole and Fugitive Life
Granted parole in June 2023 for a 2004 murder case, Sharma absconded by August, hiding as a priest in a Dausa ashram under a false identity. Delhi Police, led by Inspector Rakesh Kumar, tracked him via a mobile