The Biggest Indian Serial Killers

1. Thug Behram (125 Victims)

Thug Behram (ca 1765 - 1840), a one time leader of the 'Thuggee Cult' in India is said to have killed up to 931 victims by strangulation with the ceremonial cloth used by his cult. Behram is quoted however as saying that he was in fact 'present' at 931 murders, but only actually committed 125 himself, and actually witnessed about a further 150 being strangled. Behram was hanged for his murders in 1840.
The English word 'Thug' is in fact borrowed from the word 'Thuggee', although the use of the word today differs from the true reality of the 'Thuggee'. The 'Thuggee' were covert and operated as a member of a group, and the term typically referred to the killing of a large number of people in a single operation. This distinguished the term from simple armed robbery as they would target groups of travellers and kill them in one go, before taking their possessions.


Many modern sources describe the Thuggee as a religious cult, however others feel that it was merely the equivalent of modern day organised crime with no particular religious objectives. The Thuggee almost died out as a result of British occupation of India in the 19th century, however it is believed that smaller cells of Thuggee survived until the early parts of 20th century. Another factor in the decline of the Thuggee is the emergence of new forms of travel, mainly the railways, instead of by horses or by foot.

2. Surendra Koli (19 Victims)

In December 2006 the skeletons of a number of children, many reported missing, were found in a village on the outskirts of Noida, India. In the same month, on the 26th December, rich businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surendra Koli were arrested by the local Noida police on suspicion of murdering a local girl and charged with a variety of offences including rape, murder and kidnap. They were both sentenced to death on 13th February 2009.

Police had been tipped off by two local residents that bodies of victims were hidden behind a municipal water tank at Pandher's house, and that Koli had something to do with the murders. Initially, police ignored the residents pleas for a search and they instead enlisted the help of another senior figure - the president of the Resident Welfare Association. That same morning, the President and two locals went to search the tank and found a decomposed hand. They immediately called police, and managed to find bones belonging to three further skeletons before the police had even arrived. Parents of missing children rushed to the town with photographs to try and determine whether the bodies of their children had been found, whilst Koli soon admitted that he had raped and murdered 6 children and 1 adult female. Residents were not convinced however that this told the whole story, and believed that police officials were corrupt and demanded an independent enquiry into the case. Criticism of the police included their claims that a police officer had discovered the bodies, and an initial denial that they had found 15 bodies.

The Indian Home Ministry became aware of, and subsequently interested in, the case and launched an inquiry, and they subsequently suspended two police officers for failing to take earlier action with regards to the murders. A further investigation into the case and 15 of the 17 skeletons were to be identified, 10 by Koli and 5 by relatives with photographs, however the torso was missing on many of the bodies and police began to consider the possibility that they were killed for profit in the organ trade. It was later said that there were probably at least 31 victims. Eventually the case was handed over to the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Koli and Pandhar were taken immediately to the CBI headquarters in New Delhi, whilst investigators found several other pieces of human remains, but eventually ruled out the possibility of killing for the Organ Trade. Koli was deemed to be a psychopath who killed for thrills, whilst Pandher was initially cleared of involvement. He was later found guilty of involvement in the murders and both Pandher and Koli were sentenced to death on 13th February 2009. Pandher was again acquitted in September 2009, with police stating that there was little evidence against him.

3. Mahanand Naik (16 Victims)

Mahanand Naik was arrested on 21st April 2009 on suspicion of rape, but is now being investigated for the murder at least 16 women in a 15 year period, and he charged with those murders on 31st May 2009. Goa police believe that Naik killed his first victim in September 1994 by hanging a woman to a tree in Panaji, and went on to kill several women in two or three day interludes. Naik's modus operandi was to flatter and befriend girls with marriage proposals, and ask them to put on traditional Indian gold ornaments to meet their future in-laws. He would then pick them up from their homes in his car and take them to secluded spots, where he would strangle them. Most of his victims are believed to be between the age of 19-30, and his primary motive is believed to be the gold that they would be wearing; which he would of course subsequently steal and sell.

Mahanad Naik is actually a married man, with a baby child, and the confirmed head count of 16 is believed to be increasing as discussions with Naik continue. He killed every one of his victims in the same fashion, leaving the Goa community wondering how Naik could go on killing without police linking deaths and hunting a serial killer. Victims were killed in railway tunnels, plantations, water bodies and any secluded spot that Naik could find. Police are collecting evidence everyday which look to be linking Naik with many more killing, although the parents of the victims are critical of the police - who they believe did not take their initial reporting seriously and as a result left Naik free to kill for a decade and a half.