A Lucknow court on Friday sentenced UP serial killer Ram Niranjan, also known as Raja Kolander, to a second life term. This conviction comes 25 years after the brutal double murder of Manoj Kumar Singh and his driver, Ravi Srivastava, a case that haunted Uttar Pradesh for decades.
Back in January 2000, Singh and Srivastava were traveling from Lucknow to Rewa. They had unknowingly picked up Kolander’s wife, Phoolan Devi, from a railway station.
This ride turned into a deadly trap. A few days later, their dismembered bodies were found in a forest near Prayagraj’s Shankargarh.
The case stayed cold for years despite a chargesheet filed in 2001. It was only in 2013, after new clues surfaced during a different murder investigation, that police dug deeper. This time, they linked the crime back to Kolander.
Police found Kolander’s farmhouse filled with horrifying evidence: human skulls, a diary naming victims, and personal items belonging to the murdered men. His creepy trophy collection even included the car used in the killings, marked with a sticker of his wife’s name.
Also Read Why Bal Thackeray’s 2000 Arrest Echoes in Maharashtra’s Political Battles Today
Kolander confessed to the murders but claimed he ate his victims’ brains to boost his intelligence, especially targeting the Kayastha community. He reportedly killed at least 14 people.
The former Central Ordnance Depot employee had a strange image. He acted like a feudal lord and gave his children names like Adalat (court) and Jamanat (bail). His wife’s political position helped him maintain a fake respectability in the community.
Despite his claims of innocence and blaming political conspiracies, forensic evidence and eyewitness testimonies proved otherwise. The Allahabad High Court called his first conviction, for journalist Dhirendra Singh’s murder, a “rarest of the rare” case due to its cruelty and psychological terror.
Now, Kolander and his brother-in-law Vakshraj will serve life sentences concurrently in Unnao District Jail. This verdict closes a dark chapter in UP’s criminal history but leaves a chilling reminder of the dangers of superstition and unchecked power.
The case even drew international attention through Netflix’s docuseries Indian Predator: The Diary of a Serial Killer, exposing the dark psychology behind Kolander’s crimes.
Also Read Amritsar Tragedy: 14 Lives Lost to Spurious Liquor—How Could This Happen?
