Man wanted over data analyst’s killing in US arrested in India 8 months later

 

By Sumesh Rajan | August 28, 2026

Agra, Uttar Pradesh, INDIA: A 26-year-old man wanted by US authorities in connection with the killing of an Indian data analyst in Maryland has been arrested from a flat in Agra, nearly eight months after he allegedly fled the United States and returned to India.

Arjun Sharma, who is wanted in connection with the death of 27-year-old Nikitha Rao Godishala, was traced following information gathered by officers of Lalaguda Police Station in Hyderabad. After his arrest, Sharma was produced before the Patiala House Court in New Delhi, which deals with extradition-related proceedings.

Police said the United States has sought Sharma’s return under the India-US Extradition Treaty. The extradition process will now be handled by the competent central authorities.

Godishala, a native of Secunderabad who was working as a data analyst in the United States, was found dead with stab wounds inside Sharma’s apartment in Ellicott City, Maryland, on January 3.

Howard County police subsequently obtained an arrest warrant for Sharma on first- and second-degree murder charges.

The allegations against Sharma have not yet been tested in court.

Missing-person report followed by grim discovery

The case took a dramatic turn because Sharma himself had approached police shortly before Godishala’s body was discovered.

According to Howard County police, Sharma contacted officers on January 2 and reported that Godishala had been missing since New Year’s Eve. He allegedly told investigators that he had last seen her at his apartment on December 31.

Police investigating the missing-person report went to the apartment and found Godishala dead inside the residence the following day.

By then, however, Sharma had left the United States.

Investigators later learnt that Sharma had boarded a flight to India on January 2 — the same day he reported Godishala missing.

In a statement issued on January 4, Howard County police said detectives believed Godishala was killed shortly after 7 pm on December 31.

The discovery triggered an investigation in the United States and a prolonged effort by Godishala’s family to trace Sharma after authorities learnt that he had travelled to India.

Father sought Centre’s intervention

As the search continued, Godishala’s father, Anand Godishala, approached Union Minister G Kishan Reddy and sought the intervention of the Ministry of External Affairs.

The family urged Indian authorities to coordinate with their US counterparts and help facilitate international action to trace and arrest Sharma, who they believed was hiding somewhere in India.

For months, however, his whereabouts remained unknown.

The breakthrough eventually came not directly from the Maryland murder investigation but through a separate criminal case registered in Hyderabad.

Cheating case in Hyderabad leads investigators to Agra

Lalaguda police were searching for Sharma in connection with a cheating complaint lodged by Godishala’s father.

Inspector B Ravi Kiran of Lalaguda Police Station said the complaint alleged that Sharma had taken a substantial amount of money from Godishala and failed to return it.

Based on the complaint, Hyderabad police registered a separate case and subsequently obtained a non-bailable warrant against Sharma.

Police also sought assistance from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to obtain information about developments in the United States.

Inspector Kiran clarified that Lalaguda police were not investigating Godishala’s killing in Maryland. Their investigation was limited to the cheating case registered in Hyderabad.

However, the non-bailable warrant meant that officers continued trying to establish Sharma’s whereabouts after learning that he had left the United States following Godishala’s death.

The search eventually produced a crucial lead.

Investigators traced Sharma to a flat in Agra and passed the information to the relevant authorities, leading to his arrest nearly eight months after Godishala was found dead.

Following his detention, Sharma was produced before the Patiala House Court in New Delhi.

Police said further proceedings, particularly those concerning the US request for his extradition, would now be dealt with by central authorities.

US seeks extradition to face murder charges

US authorities have requested Sharma’s return under the extradition treaty between India and the United States.

If extradited, he is expected to face the murder charges filed against him in Maryland.

The extradition proceedings are significant because Sharma had already left the US by the time investigators discovered Godishala’s body and identified him as a suspect.

The legal process in India will determine whether he can be handed over to American authorities to face trial.

Father disputes ‘ex-boyfriend’ description

While Howard County police have described Sharma as Godishala’s former boyfriend, her father has disputed that description.

According to Anand Godishala, Sharma was his daughter’s former flatmate and the disagreement between the two was financial rather than romantic.

The family said Nikitha and Sharma had earlier shared an apartment with two other people. After she began working in the United States, she moved to a separate residence.

Her father maintained that it was incorrect to describe Sharma as her former boyfriend and said he believed a financial dispute existed between them.

The cheating complaint subsequently filed in Hyderabad was also based on allegations that Sharma had taken money from Godishala and failed to repay it.

From Hyderabad to a career in the United States

Godishala had moved to the United States in 2021 to pursue higher education and build her career.

Before moving abroad, she completed a pharmacy course at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad.

She later pursued a Master’s degree in Health Information Technology at the University of Maryland and eventually began working as a data analyst.

At the time of her death, the 27-year-old was living in Ellicott City, Maryland.

What began as a missing-person report on January 2 turned into a murder investigation when police discovered her body the following day. Investigators then learnt that the man who had reported her missing had already boarded a flight to India.

Nearly eight months later, Sharma’s arrest in Agra has brought the case back before the courts, with the focus now shifting to extradition proceedings and whether he will be sent to the United States to face the murder charges against him.