Jack the Ripper of India

 Hello, my criminally intrigued!

I'm back with my next crime blog. This time, as promised, I have an Indian serial killer for you. Let's have a look at the man who paralyzed Bombay in the sixties with fear.

RAMAN RAGHAV
Raman Raghav crept out of the jungles of suburban Bombay at night and killed to his heart’s content. A thin, scrawny, 40-year-old man single-handedly terrorized the upwardly mobile city of dreams in the late 60s, by murdering over 40 people in the dead of the night. There was widespread public anxiety and panic in Mumbai. Inhabitants of slums and apartments dreaded sleeping out in the open or with open windows and balconies.

 Raghav went on a killing spree for over three years, with the first round of murders taking place in 1965 and 1966 when 19 people were attacked with a baton, and a second round of killings taking place in 1968.Police suspected Raman Raghav and arrested him. As a homeless man, he had past records in the police files, and had spent five years in prison for robbery. Since no solid evidence could be found against him for the new set of crimes, the police let him go. 

 He was caught by the Maharashtra Police on 27 September 1968, post the second round of his killing spree. 

In his confession, he admitted that he had murdered 41 people in 1966 along the GIP (Great Indian Peninsular) Railway and again almost a dozen in 1968 in the suburbs. However, it is likely that he killed many more. 
Raghav was spared a death sentence due to mental illness and was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment. While being evaluated for his mental illness, Raghav displayed systemized delusions of persecution and grandeur. His intelligence was also categorized 'average'. He died in hospital while in prison custody in 1995.





What is your opinion of Raghav?

My interest in Raghav first stemmed from director Sriram Raghavan's 70-minute feature film based on Raghav titled Raman Raghav - A City, A Killer, starring Raghuvir Yadav as the renowned serial killer.

Raman Raghav 2.0, a Bollywood film directed by Anurag Kashyap and starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vicky Kaushal.


Raman Raghav was mentioned in an episode of the true crime podcast titled Khooni: The Crimes of India. 

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