Serial Killer – a set phrase that instantly takes your mind back to the last episode of CSI or whatever your favorite crime show is. And in my case, it incites a strange curiosity induced fear. And why shouldn’t it? The basic idea of a psychopath roaming around in our neighborhood, gently pacing through the pavement.. Maybe he even smiled at you today, all while planning how he will enjoy slowly killing his next victim. Doesn’t it just rush a dose of adrenaline through your veins? Or maybe some light goosebumps?

But this is the issue I’ve had with serial killers. For as long as I can remember, all the famous serial killers have originated from the west. Now I probably should have been glad about it, but I was also pissed. Are we so bad that not even a serial killer wants to stay here and create a legacy? We have over a billion people for God’s sake! Serial killers should be having a field day!

And, with that thought, I set out to find if we really have been so unlucky to not have been graced with even a single serial killer. All jokes aside, what I found out was pretty gruesome and disturbing. So, here goes the 7 Serial Killers of India You (just like me) Probably Knew Nothing About.

1. Surinder Koli

Let’s begin with the most famous and well known serial killers of Modern India. Remember Nithari Killings? Well, just in case you don’t: During 2005-06 in Noida region, numerous reports of missing children were recorded. But as it happens, police really didn’t pay much attention till media blew the case up in September 2005. Soon investigation followed amidst of huge political and media chaos and what came out of it was nothing short of a horror movie. 17 children’s remains were found near Nithari municipal water tank and the conspirator was suspected to be Surinder Koli who later confessed to have killed 5 children. He was initially sentenced to death but later it turned into life sentence upon appeal. (What?)

But what truly makes this seemingly straight forward mass homicide was the rumors that surfaced regarding what really happened before they were killed and what happened to those who were never found? There were evidences which proved that child pornography was involved. There were also rumors that organ trading and cannibalism took place. But what wasn’t rumor was the shocking revelation Surinder Koli admitted to during the polygraph test.

Apparently, he would first kidnap them by luring and then rape them before taking the bodies to his personal washroom and dismembering them. Serial killers for you.

2. Mohan Kumar or Cyanide Mohan

This physical education teacher turned psychotic mass murderer hailing from Karnataka had a special demographic of killings as well as a twisted modus operandi. During the time of 2005-09, he would look for women who were trying to get married but were not able to find a suitable person. He would show up and promise to marry the woman, have sex with them first and then trick them into taking contraceptives which were actually cyanide pills. And before you start to wonder, he killed 20 women the same way before getting caught. And he was, thankfully, sentenced to death in 2013.

I’m really not sure if I’m utterly disgusted or genuinely impressed at his evil mind. A story straight out of a classic crime mystery novel.

3. The Stoneman Killer

Lo and behold! Our very own Indian Jack the Ripper. This case, infamous for being unsolved reached mythical level of hysteria in the 1980’s. It all started with a series of murders (12 in total) done in the same fashion – By smashing their heads. The killer would only pick on rag-pickers and beggars and the murders would be committed while the victim laid asleep on the streets. The victim’s head was crushed with a single stone weighing as much as 30kg. As mysteriously as the killings had started, by the middle of 1988, they stopped. Or did they?

In June 1989, in then Calcutta, a homeless person was found dead due to multiple head injuries. The first of many, the city, panic-struck, witnessed 12 more killings in the next 6 months before they stopped as well. Just like before, no clues, no leads, no suspects. This inactivity prompted a Calcutta newspaper to name the unknown killer, The Stoneman. There were a few more similar murders seen over the years but whether it was the same killer or copycat killing will forever be unknown.

4. Kampatimar Shankariya

Hailing from Jaipur, this serial killer has killed over 70 people using nothing but a hammer. Murders spanning in 1977-78, his victims would be the late wanderers who would make the mistake of going out alone at night. He would roam around the town wearing a blanket over his body to find his target and once he did, he would follow them till he found a secluded place and would start bludgeoning the victim with hammer till they were dead.

If sometime was creepier than his murders, was his confession where he claimed that he enjoyed bashing people’s head in and the spluttered blood would make him feel alive and younger. He was sentenced to death in early 1979.

5. Umesh Reddy

Probably the most horrific in the list, this Karnataka born serial killer, who has worked in CRPF in Jammu and Direct Armed Forces Police in Karnataka, has killed at least 18 women, while the alleged list may go as far as 30. While his numbers are certainly not as high as some others in this list, his modus operandi definitely is.

Reddy was known to be very careful about picking his targets. He usually targeted housewives between 11 am and 3 pm, when there would be no men at home. He would gain entry into the victims’ house on the pretext of asking for water or address. He then threatened them with a knife, forced them to remove their clothes, tied them up, and raped them. He often choked his victims, and raped them while they were unconscious. After the rape, Reddy killed his victims, and removed their jewelry to make the crime appear like a robbery. He would also flee with the women’s undergarments. A transvestite, he would wear women’s undergarments while committing these crimes.

His entire track record includes being arrested, running away and while on the run raping and killing more women before getting arrested again. The entire saga is difficult to even pen down. So if you’re interested in knowing more about him click right here. As far as I’m concerned, he has won the Serial Killer of India title just for his absolute ruthless ways. Or so I thought before I read about the following guy.

6. Thug Behram

Dating as back as 1790, this serial killer was a leader of Thuggee cult based in central India. Known as one of the world’s most prolific killers, he has managed to kill around 931 people using the classic Thug way – strangling them with a handkerchief.

And taking it a level further, Behram’s handkerchief had a large medallion sewn into it. With practised skill he could cast the rumal so as to cause the medallion to land at the adam’s-apple of his victims, adding pressure to the throat when he strangled them. Today the sinister Canova medallion, reputed to have been used in at least 65 murders is preserved in a private museum. This guy shows you that with enough dedication, you can be a celebrity even by making a career out of killing and robbing people.

7. Charles Shobhraj

A list about Indian serial killers cannot end without including the most sought after serial killer in entire South-East Asia. Quoted as one of the most famous mass murderer and a psychological profile that fits to the bill with the charismatic and anti-social pattern of a typical psychopath, this suave “bikini killer” murdered around 12 people from 1975 to 1976. Unlike most other serial killers, Sobhraj had a motive – rob his victims to fund his flamboyant lifestyle. His usual method was to first gain the trust of tourists and potential victims by rescuing them from problems that he had created in the first place, and then defrauding them. The bodies of two of the women he killed were found in floral bikinis, earning Sobhraj the nickname, ‘Bikini Killer’.

This French Killer of Vietnamese and Indian origin has also served two life sentences; one in India and another in Nepal currently. And if to further serve his image of a flamboyant serial killer, he was approached for a book and movie rights on his life of which he demanded exceptionally high amounts. The movie Main aur Charles starring Randeep Hooda is based on the life of Charles Shobhraj and is all set to release on 30th October if you have grown curious enough to want to know more about this person.