The prime suspect in the case was identified as Kamruddin, a Firozabad native who now stands accused of running a sprawling occult network.
When police discovered a white Tata hatchback parked on the service lane of Delhi’s Peeragarhi flyover on February 8, a routine check led to a shocking discovery – three dead bodies inside, with no immediate link between the victims. Investigators soon found themselves in the middle of one of the most intriguing multi-state investigations centreing on a 72-year-old former bangle trader who, they discovered, was the alleged mastermind of an occult racket blending superstition and psychology, and suspected in multiple deaths over four decades.
The prime suspect in the case was identified as Kamruddin, a Firozabad native who now stands accused of running a sprawling occult network. Despite being previously accused in at least two murders, he managed to continue his so-called “practice” and is suspected to have killed more people than he has been formally charged with.
The Peeragarhi deaths
On February 8, the bodies of Randhir Singh, 76, property dealer Shiv Naresh, 47, and Laxmi, 40, from Jahangirpuri, were found inside a car around 4pm after passing motorists alerted police.
While it was not immediately clear how they all knew each other, investigators pieced together a timeline through CCTV footage and call detail records. Around 9.52am, Randhir met Shiv at his house. They reached Haiderpur at 10.40am, picked up Laxmi, crossed Khajuri Khas at 11.10am, and arrived at Kamruddin’s Loni residence around 11.44am. Ten minutes later, CCTV showed them returning with two bags.
The next time the car was spotted, was around 1pm at Peeragarhi – around 30km away – where at 1.13pm Kamruddin was seen inside the car holding a packet in his hand, which investigators presume contained the laddos. The car was stationary at the Peeragarhi flyover for nearly 45 minutes.
Forensic analysis revealed what investigators describe as a lethal mix of sulphas (aluminium phosphide) and sleeping pills in high concentration. “Sulphas has a distinctive smell which can be masked if the person has consumed alcohol,” an investigator said, noting the combination can cause rapid death. A bottle of alcohol was recovered from the car.
Investigators said the victims had visited a day earlier but were sent back for not bringing “cold items” required for the ceremony. “They had insisted the Dhanvarsha should happen at their chosen place. We suspect he decided to kill them because they had chosen the location and he had little control. If it was his place, he could have simply made an excuse for the Dhanvarsha not having happened,” an officer said.
By 3pm, the victims’ car was found near Peeragarhi flyover. All were dead. “They were promised ₹3 crore against ₹2 lakh. They went to all lengths to make that money and died in the process,” an officer closely investigating the case said.
A history of similar deaths
This was not the first time Kamruddin faced serious allegations. HT accessed charge sheets and spoke to investigators to see that there was at least a decade-old pattern.
In February 2014, in Rajasthan’s Rajkhera, he was accused of killing a woman along with her husband, allegedly instigating a man to murder his wife over infertility. He was arrested and spent 390 days in jail before being released on bail.
According to the chargesheet, 30-year-old Anita married school teacher Narayan Singh in 2004 but was unable to bear children. In 2013, she and her husband began visiting Kamruddin in Firozabad. On February 25, Anita went missing; two days later, her body was found about 300m from her house.
Before her marriage, Anita had been in love with a man named Udayveer. In 2014, they reconnected, causing marital strife. Parallelly, both Anita and her husband consulted Kamruddin regularly, believing his occult practices would help them conceive.
According to the chargesheet, Anita met Kamruddin on February 23 in her husband’s absence and spoke to him seven times on February 24. “On February 26, Kamruddin was in Rajkhera but didn’t speak to either Anita or Narayan Singh despite being in the area, which raises suspicion. The postmortem indicated she was killed 24 hours before her body was found, meaning February 26,” the document read.
Investigators believed Narayan Singh conspired with Kamruddin to kill Anita over her alleged relationship and infertility. Her postmortem revealed death by poisoning.
Kamruddin was arrested on charges of murder and kidnapping. However, after 390 days in jail, he was released in 2015. A Rajasthan police officer explained that lack of direct evidence was the case, “The court gave bail on the grounds that the evidence was circumstantial. He could not be directly linked to the murder. Anita’s husband was the prime accused.”
Arrested in 2025 for double murder
A decade later, in May 2025, Kamruddin was again arrested – this time in connection with two deaths allegedly linked to poison-laced offerings during similar rituals.
According to the FIR from Makkhanpur police station in Firozabad, complainant Ram Singh alleged that his brother Ramnath and relative Pooran died after Kamruddin poisoned them. Singh alleged Kamruddin had lured the men with promises of recovering “hidden treasures” through tantric practices, taking money for rituals and refusing to return it.
On May 8, Kamruddin called the two to his house on the pretext of performing rituals. Their bodies were discovered the following morning near a glass factory, with glasses, laddoos, lemon and other ritual items placed nearby.
Initially registered as abetment of suicide, the case was converted to murder after forensic reports showed traces of “organophosphorus insecticide” in the victims’ bodies. Investigating officer of the case, Chaman Kumar Sharma, said, “Examination of laddoos, glasses, lemons, and viscera reports confirmed Kamruddin mixed poison in the laddoos and bhabhuti (ash) he administered. Kamruddin confessed in his disclosures.”
Despite this, Kamruddin secured bail from the Allahabad High Court on September 9, 2025. His lawyer successfully argued that the FIR was filed four days after the bodies were discovered, that there was “no direct or ocular evidence,” and that “organophosphorus insecticide cannot be administered by force because it has a pungent smell.” Crucially, the lawyer claimed Kamruddin had no criminal history – a claim police failed to challenge, not having checked his 2014 Rajasthan case.
“Kamruddin’s willingness to murder for financial greed and his diminished fear of the law are evident in the fact that he killed three people in Delhi by poisoning despite being bailed out just five months ago,” a Delhi Police officer said. The murder case is currently on trial, with Kamruddin allegedly failing to appear in court despite bail conditions requiring his presence.
The racket
Raids at Kamruddin’s premises in Loni and Firozabad uncovered hundreds of photographs of women and men, with addresses on the back, which investigators believe were used for “Dhanvarsha.” Victims allegedly paid amounts ranging from ₹1,800 to ₹2.75 lakh for rituals claiming to locate hidden treasure, cure infertility, or ensure wealth.
Speaking to HT, 35-year-old Neha Devi from Wazirpur, who visited Kamruddin twice in February 2025, said she was referred by her husband’s colleague when she complained of chronic illness. After narrating her problem, Kamruddin gave her eight laddoos to consume at home – which her husband made her throw away. On a second visit, Kamruddin performed what he called an “operation,” placing a white cloth on her stomach, reciting phrases, and producing a bloodied black cloth with knots, claiming he had extracted the source of her illness. She remains unwell, she told HT.