Serial killer arrested after 24 years on the run; accused of killing cab drivers, dumping bodies

By Sagaya Fernando | 6 July 2025

New Delhi, INDIA: After nearly 25 years of evading the law, a 49-year-old man identified as Ajay Lamba, alias Banshi, has been arrested by Delhi Police in connection with a series of brutal murders and robberies committed between 1999 and 2001. Lamba, originally from Delhi’s Krishna Nagar, was the alleged mastermind behind a string of crimes in which taxi drivers were murdered, their bodies dumped in remote forest areas, and their vehicles sold across the Nepal border.

According to police, Lamba was wanted in at least four robbery-cum-murder cases reported in Delhi, Haldwani, Almora, and Champawat. He was declared a proclaimed offender in all these cases, including a 2001 murder registered at the New Ashok Nagar police station in the national capital.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Aditya Gautam said, “The accused, a notorious robber-cum-murderer, was involved in four brutal murder-cum-robbery cases targeting taxi drivers in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. He would hire taxis along with accomplices, sedate and murder the drivers, dispose of their bodies in mountainous terrain to avoid detection, and then smuggle the vehicles to Nepal for resale.”

Lamba was born in 1976 and dropped out of school after Class 6. He entered the world of crime early and was declared a 'Bad Character' by Vikas Puri Police under the alias 'Banshi'. In 1996, he changed his name to Ajay Lamba and moved to Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, where he met two men — Dhirendra and Dilip Negi — who would later become his accomplices in the taxi killings.

Between 1999 and 2001, the trio allegedly lured taxi drivers under the pretense of long-distance trips to Uttarakhand, killed them en route, and dumped their bodies in forested, mountainous regions. Police said only one body has been recovered so far, though Lamba is suspected of involvement in several more such murders.

Lamba’s criminal past extends beyond these murders. He has been previously booked in cases related to theft and illegal possession of arms. To escape capture, he constantly changed locations and identities, living undetected in Nepal from 2008 to 2018 before relocating to Dehradun with his family.

Police said that in 2020, Lamba allegedly entered the narcotics trade, becoming involved in smuggling ganja from Odisha to various parts of India, including Delhi. He was arrested in 2021 by Delhi’s Sagarpur Police under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and again in 2024 in connection with a jewellery shop dacoity in Berhampur, Odisha. He was out on bail in both cases and had concealed his fugitive status from authorities and associates.

A team from Delhi Police's Crime Branch had been tracking Lamba for years using both manual and technical surveillance. He was finally arrested in a coordinated operation in Delhi, bringing an end to a decades-long manhunt.

Police officials suspect Lamba and his associates may be linked to more unsolved cases and have launched further investigations to uncover the full extent of their crimes.