Who is 'Doctor Death'? Doctor-turned-serial killer infamous for feeding victims to crocodiles arrested by Delhi police

A notorious Ayurvedic practitioner-turned-serial killer was arrested by Delhi police after he jumped to parole last year, a senior official said on Tuesday, i.e., May 21. Infamous as 'Doctor Death', he used to feed his victims to crocodiles. 

Devender Sharma, 67, was disguised as a priest under a fake identity at an ashram in Rajasthan's Dausa when he was arrested on Monday, revealed the official. He was convicted in multiple murder cases and sentenced to life imprisonment in seven separate cases across Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. 

Moreover, a Gurgaon court even awarded him the capital punishment. Aditya Gautam, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) crime branch, said that he had been serving life sentence in Tihar jail for murdering several taxi and truck drivers between 2002 and 2004. However, it was in August 2023 when he jumped his parole. 

"Sharma and his accomplices used to call drivers on fake trips, murder them and sell their vehicles in the grey market," DCP Gautam said, adding that the bodies were later disposed off into crocodile-infested waters of Hazara Canal in Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj to eradicate evidence. 

Who is Doctor Death?

Devender Sharma first gained notoriety for running an illicity kidney transplant racket between 1995 and 2004. A BAMS (bachelor of ayurvedic medicine and surgery) degree holder, he had opened a clinic in Rajsthan in 1984. With the help of middlemen and other doctors, he facilitated over 125 illicit transplants at his clinic. Devender Sharma had entered the crime world after incurring a heavy financial loss in a failed gas deadlership deal. 

In 1995, he floated a fake gas agency and at the same time, setting foot in illegal organ trade. Between 1995 and 2004, he formed a gang that seized trucks carrying gas cylinders, killed the drivers and stole the consignments. The modus operandi involved killing drivers, stealing their vehicles and consignments and selling them in grey market. The dead bodies were later fed to crocodiles. 

At present, Sharma is suspected to be involved in over 50 murder cases.