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Delhi serial killer arrested after 24 years of chase: Would hire cabs, murder drivers
While currently Ajay Lamba faces four cases of murder-cum-robber, he and his accomplices may be involved in more such crimes, the police suspect.
After around 24 years of robbing, killing people and being on the run, a serial killer named Ajay Lamba was arrested by the Delhi Police, reported NDTV. Currently, he faces four cases of robbery and murder and has been chased by the police for over two decades.
His modus operandi was simple – hire a taxi to travel to Uttarakhand, sedate and kill the driver, dispose of the body, smuggle and sell the car across the border in Nepal. He wouldn’t be alone while committing these crimes, there were other accomplices aiding him. Around 2001, he targeted several drivers from areas such as Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
According to deputy commissioner of police Aditya Gautam, "The accused, a notorious robber-cum-murderer, was involved in four brutal robbery-cum-murder cases targeting cab drivers across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand during the year 2001. He would hire taxis with accomplices, murder the drivers, rob the vehicles, and dispose of the bodies in remote mountainous regions to avoid detection.”
Out of Lamba’s four victims, the body of only one cab driver has been recovered. The police had earlier arrested two of his gang members, the report said.
While currently Lamba faces four cases of murder-cum-robber, he and his accomplices may be involved in more such crimes, the police suspect.
Who is Ajay Lamba?
A 48-year-man from Delhi, Lamba has moved around a lot throughout his life. He dropped out of school in class 6. Later, he moved to Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly where he met two men who would later become his accomplices in committing the murders- Dhirendra and Dilip Negi. Apart from murders, Lamba also faces other criminal cases such as theft and illegal possession of arms, said police.
For a decade, from 2008-2018, he lived in Nepal and later moved to Dehradun in Uttarakhand with his family, NDTV reported, citing police.
For years, a crime branch team has been tracking him using manual and technical surveillance. "In 2020, he allegedly became involved in the ganja supply chain from Odisha to other parts of India, including Delhi. He was recently arrested in a case registered under NDPS Act in 2021 in PS Sagarpur, Delhi and again in a jewellery shop dacoity case in Behrampur, Odisha in 2024. He was on bail in these cases. He never disclosed his involvement (in the 2001 murders) and absconding status to anyone," said the police statement.
