
Serial killer, who fed victims to crocs, held after jumping parole at ashram in Rajasthan
NEW DELHI: Ayurveda practitioner-turned-serial killer – the infamous Doctor Death, who fed his victims to crocodiles – was arrested by Delhi Police after he jumped parole last year, a senior official said.The absconder was posing as a priest under a false identity at an ashram in Rajasthan's Dausa when he was arrested on Monday, he added.
67-year-old Devender Sharma was convicted in multiple murder cases. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in seven separate cases across Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana, and a Gurgaon court even awarded him capital punishment.
DCP (Crime Branch) Aditya Gautam said Sharma had been serving life sentence in Tihar Jail for the brutal killings of several taxi and truck drivers between 2002 and 2004, when he jumped parole in August 2023.

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