 Second edition | |
| Author | Anirban Bhattacharyya |
|---|---|
| Genre | Nonfiction, true crime, biography |
| Publisher | Penguin India |
Publication date | 10 June 2019 |
| Publication place | India |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | 340 |
| ISBN | 978-0143445722 |
| Followed by | Mumblings & Musings |
The Deadly Dozen: India's Most Notorious Serial Killers is a 2019 true-crime non-fiction novel by Anirban Bhattacharyya. The novel was launched by film director Anurag Kashyap in Mumbai. [1]
The book is a true-crime book that features the true-life stories and cases of 12 serial killers from India. The killers who are featured in the book include KD Kempamma, Auto Shankar, Moninder Singh Pandher and Surinder Koli, Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders, Mohan Kumar, Thug Behram, Darbara Singh, Amardeep Sada, Raman Raghav and the case of Seema Gavit and Renuka Shinde. The book also contains the unsolved cases of Beerman and Stoneman.
Notable is the investigative story of Nithari-kaand or the 2006 Noida serial murders in which the author points to the innocence of the two prime suspects, the botched-up investigation by the Noida Police and an organ-trafficking nexus which was not investigated properly. [2] When published in 2019 this seemed too far-fetched and reeked of a conspiracy theory. On 16 October 2023, 17 years after the crimes were discovered, Koli and Pandher were acquitted of all charges against them, after appeals filed by the two suspects. Both were acquitted by the Allahabad High Court due to a lack of convincing evidence other than the confessions of the accused. [3]
Anurag Kashyap described the book as "I have always said, reality is stranger than fiction; these true accounts are gut-wrenching and make us question our surroundings" [4]
Gowri Shankar, better known as 'Auto' Shankar, was an Indian criminal, murderer and gangster from Tamil Nadu, who was active in Chennai throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Black Friday is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language crime film written and directed by Anurag Kashyap. Based on Black Friday: The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts, a book by Hussain Zaidi about the 1993 Bombay bombings, it chronicles the events that led to the blasts and the subsequent police investigation. Produced by Arindam Mitra of Mid-Day, the film stars Pawan Malhotra, Kay Kay Menon, Aditya Srivastava, Kishor Kadam and Zakir Hussain.
The Stoneman is a name given by the popular English-language print media of Calcutta, India to an unidentified serial killer who murdered at least 13 sleeping homeless people in Calcutta in 1989. The name is also given to the perpetrator of a similar series of murders in Mumbai from 1983 to 1988. It has been speculated that these were the work of the same person, who could have been responsible for as many as 26 murders.
Raman Raghav, also known as Sindhi Talwai, Anna, Thambi, and Veluswami, was a serial killer active during the mid-1960s, labelled by many as Jack the Ripper of India. 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, and a second round of killings taking place in 1968. He was caught by Maharashtra Police on 27 September. Raghav was spared a death sentence due to mental illness, and was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment; he died in hospital while in prison custody in 1995.
The 2006 Noida serial murders occurred in the house of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher in Sector-31, Noida near Nithari village, Uttar Pradesh, India, between 2005 and 2006. Moninder Singh was convicted in two out of the five cases against him, and his servant Surinder Koli, who supposedly aided him, was convicted in 10 out of the 16 cases against him. Both were originally sentenced to death, however in 2023, Allahabad High Court acquitted them citing lack of evidence.
Sacred Games is a mystery/thriller novel by Indian-American author Vikram Chandra published in 2006. Upon release, it received critical acclaim and subsequently won the Vodafone Crossword Book Award.
Anurag Kashyap is an Indian film director and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to film, the Government of France made him a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2013.
The Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders were ten murders committed by Rajendra Jakkal, Dilip Sutar, Shantaram Kanhoji Jagtap and Munawar Harun Shah of Pune, India between January 1976 and March 1977. All the murderers were commercial art students at the Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya, Tilak Road, and were hanged for their crimes on 27 November 1983. The group had acquired a poor reputation on their college campus for robbery and drinking.
Rahul Bhat is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He began his career as a fashion model and participated in the Graviera Mr. India contest in 1998, and subsequently worked in several advertisements and music videos. He gained fame for his leading role in the television serial Heena from 1998 to 2003. After starring in the films Yeh Mohabbat Hai (2002) and Nayee Padosan (2003), he took a sabbatical from acting and began producing television serials, including Meri Doli Tere Angana (2007–2008) and Tum Dena Saath Mera (2009).
Shaitan (transl. Devil) is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film directed by Bejoy Nambiar in his feature film debut and produced by Anurag Kashyap, Sunil Bohra, Guneet Monga and Nambiar himself under the banners Anurag Kashyap Films and Getaway Films, which was co-produced and distributed by Viacom18 Motion Pictures. The script was written by Nambiar and Megha Ramaswamy. The film stars Rajeev Khandelwal, Kalki Koechlin, Gulshan Devaiah, Shiv Panditt, Neil Bhoopalam, Kirti Kulhari, Rajit Kapoor, Pawan Malhotra and Rajkummar Rao. Based on the 2007 murder of Adnan Patrawala incident, the film revolves around five friends who want to live an adventurous life who get embroiled in a crime.
Mohan Kumar Vivekanand, also known as Cyanide Mohan, is a serial killer who preyed on women looking for marriage. A Mangalore fast-track court tried and convicted him for the murder of 20 women in Karnataka from 2003 to 2009.
Anurag Kashyap is an Indian filmmaker and actor, known for his work in Hindi cinema. After writing a television series Kabhie Kabhie (1997), Kashyap co-wrote Ram Gopal Varma's crime drama Satya (1998). He later wrote and directed a short television film, Last Train to Mahakali (1999), and made his feature film debut with the yet-unreleased film Paanch. He next directed Black Friday (2007), a film on the 1993 Bombay bombings. Its release was barred by India's Censor Board for two years, but was eventually released in 2007 to positive reviews. The same year, he directed the critical and commercial failure No Smoking. Return of Hanuman (2007), an animated film, was Kashyap's next directorial venture. In 2009, he directed Dev.D, a modern-day take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali novel Devdas, along with the political drama Gulaal. Despite positive reviews, the latter was a box-office failure.
Darbara Singh was an Indian serial killer who was convicted of two murders.
Raman Raghav 2.0 is a 2016 Indian neo-noir psychological crime thriller film directed by Anurag Kashyap. Produced by Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl, and Madhu Mantena, the film stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vicky Kaushal, and debutante Sobhita Dhulipala. It depicts in eight chapters the cat and mouse chase of serial killer Ramanna (Siddiqui) by corrupt cop Raghavan (Kaushal). Real-life killer Raman Raghav, who operated in Mumbai during the 1960s, inspired the film.
Sisters Seema Mohan Gavit and Renuka Kiran Shinde are Indian serial killers convicted of kidnapping thirteen children and killing five of them between 1990 and 1996. In association with their mother Anjanabai, they were active in various cities in western Maharashtra – Pune, Thane, Kalyan, Kolhapur, and Nashik. The reason for kidnapping the children was to take them to crowded places where one of the trio would try to steal people's belongings. If the thief was caught, she would either try to evoke sympathy through the child, or create a distraction by hurting it. The kidnapped child would later be killed.
Imaikkaa Nodigal is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film written and directed by R. Ajay Gnanamuthu. It stars Nayanthara with Atharvaa, Raashii Khanna, and Anurag Kashyap, with the latter two both marking their debut in Tamil cinema in prominent roles. Vijay Sethupathi plays an extended cameo. The music was composed by Hiphop Tamizha, cinematography by R. D. Rajasekhar, editing by Bhuvan Srinivasan, and produced by C. J. Jayakumar. The film is a situational story focalizing on how a serial killer is apprehended by an intelligent CBI officer.
Sacred Games is an Indian neo-noir crime thriller television series based on Vikram Chandra's 2006 novel of the same name. Produced and directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap under the banner of Phantom Films, it is India's first Netflix original series. The novel was adapted by Varun Grover, Smita Singh, and Vasant Nath. Kelly Luegenbiehl, Erik Barmack and Motwane were the series' executive producers.
KD Kempamma, also known as Cyanide Mallika, is India's first convicted female serial killer. Commencing with her first murder in 1999, Kempamma killed 6 women over the next 8 years, 5 between October and December in 2007. She befriended victims from female temple devotees and portrayed herself as a deeply pious woman. After gaining their confidence she would call them to another temple, ask them to dress in their best clothing and jewellery and give them 'holy water' with cyanide to drink. She was caught by police trying to dispose of the jewellery and confessed under interrogation. She was the first woman to be sentenced to death in Karnataka.
Anirban Bhattacharyya is an Indian television producer, author, standup comedian, and actor. He is the creator and producer of the hit true crime TV series Savdhaan India and Ishq Kills.