Viswa Vanapalli
Over the course of a few months in 2006 and 2007, the authorities in Delhi, India, scrambled to find any leads they could regarding a string of murders and taunting letters from the killer. Netflix’s ‘Indian Predator: The Butcher Of Delhi’ is a three-part docuseries that delves into the horrific crimes committed by serial killer Chandrakant Jha and the investigation that led to his arrest. While he has been convicted of three murders, the authorities believe he killed many more. So, if you’re wondering just how many deaths Chandrakant has been responsible for, we’ve got you covered.
Who Were Chandrakant Jha’s Victims?
During the early morning hours of October 20, 2006, the authorities in Delhi received a strange call. The man on the other end mentioned leaving a dead body outside Tihar Jail, Delhi. The officers rushed there and located a basket. Inside, they found a decapitated body wrapped in newspaper, rags, and plastic. The body was tied up, and the decedent wore nothing but his underwear. To make matters worse, the killer left a note taunting the police and daring them to catch him.
After finding a third body disposed of similarly, the authorities were led to Chandrakant Jha, a migrant worker from Bihar, India, who had been living in Haiderpur, Delhi. Soon after the arrest, Chandrakant readily confessed to several murders, and their brutality struck everybody. In 1998, he admitted to killing someone named Pandit, aka Mangal. At the time, Chandrakant was arrested but was soon released and acquitted due to lack of evidence.
There seemed to be a pattern in Chandrakant’s killings. He would often befriend his victims and treat them like his own by providing them with a job, food, and a place to stay. But over time, any little thing that annoyed him about them would lead to the killings. Chandrakant claimed that in 2003, he murdered Shekhar, an associate, because he wasn’t okay with Shekhar’s drinking and lying. According to Chandrakant, he killed Umesh in the same year for betraying his trust, later throwing his body outside one of Tihar Jail’s gates.
Chandrakant asserted that in 2005, he killed someone named Guddu because he smoked marijuana. As for Amit Mandal, his body was found in October 2006. Chandrakant killed him for being a womanizer. He would invite his victims over to his place, tie them up under the pretext of disciplining them, and then choke them to death. Sometimes, Chandrakant would even have dinner while the dead bodies lay in the same room.
Chandrakant then murdered Upender in April 2007 because he thought Upender was having an affair with one of his friends’ daughter. As per the show, Chandrakant dismembered the body, leaving the torso outside Tihar Jail and dumping the other parts at various locations across Delhi. The following month, he murdered Dalip in a similar way, placing the torso outside one of the jail gates and disposing of his limbs, genitals, and head at other locations.
How Many Did Chandrakant Jha Kill?
In February 2013, Chandrakant was found guilty of three of the seven murders he confessed to. For that, he received two death sentences and a life sentence. The murders he was convicted of were that of Anil, Upender, and Dalip. In January 2016, his death penalty was commuted to a life sentence. In the letters left with the bodies, Chandrakant talked about the murders as a revenge of sorts for falsely implicating him in other cases in the past.
While Chandrakant admitted to killing seven people, many believe his victim count is much higher. As per the show, several people from his hometown talked about Chandrakant murdering many others. A childhood friend claimed that Chandrakant killed three other men. Furthermore, the show mentioned photographs allegedly taken on Chandrakant’s camera that showed some men tied up and gagged, with some even having their lips sewed.
Read More: Where is Chandrakant Jha’s Family Now?
