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.
[2] A similar series of murders had taken place a few years earlier (1965–66) in the Eastern suburbs of Mumbai with as many as 19 people being attacked, with 9 dying.
A homeless man, he had past mentions in the police files and spent five years in prison for robbery.
Ramakant Kulkarni, then the Deputy Commissioner of Police CID (Crime) took over the investigation and spearheaded a massive combing operation in the city.
He claimed to be Raman Raghav, but old records disclosed that he had several aliases including "Sindhi Dalwai", "Talwai", "Anna", "Thambi", and "Veluswami".
His fingerprints matched with those on record and confirmed that he was Raman Raghav alias "Sindhi Dalwai".
[6] When the trial started in the court of Additional Session Judge, Mumbai on 2 June 1969, the counsel for defence made an application that the accused was incapable of defending himself on account of unsoundness of mind and he also submitted that even at the time of committing the alleged offences the accused was of unsound mind and incapable of knowing the nature of his acts or that they were contrary to the law.
Post his confession, he took the police force on a citywide tour to show the places he operated in and to obtain the rod he had hidden in the northern suburbs.
The Additional Sessions Judge, Mumbai, held the accused guilty of the charge of murder and sentenced him to death.
Before confirming the sentence, the High Court of Mumbai ordered that the Surgeon General of Mumbai should constitute a Special Medical Board of three psychiatrists to determine whether the accused was of unsound mind and, secondly, whether in consequence of his unsoundness of mind, he was incapable of making his defence.
In their final interview when they bade him goodbye and attempted to shake hands with him, he refused to do so saying that he was a representative of 'Kanoon' (Law) who would not touch people belonging to this wicked world.
On 4 August 1987 Raghav's sentence was reduced to life imprisonment because he was found to be incurably mentally ill.