1) Divya Bharti
Bollywood actress Divya Bharti‘s death has always been a much-discussed mystery all over India and people are still not sure of the real cause of her demise. There are many conspiracy theories surrounding her death, some say she fell from her balcony after consuming too much alcohol, some say it was an accident.
The more serious allegations include involvement of her then husband Sajid Nadiadwala or the underworld mafia. Though most people still believe it was a case of suicide. For more details on her shocking death and the multiple stories about it, read this website dedicated to it and her Wikipedia page.
2) Amar Singh Chamkila
Amar Singh Chamkila was a popular Punjabi Punjabi singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. On 8th March, 1988 Amar and his his wife (who was also his singing partner) Amarjot were killed, along with two members of their band allegedly by a gang of unknown youths. The recurring themes of his songs were often based on extra-marital affairs, coming of age, drinking, drug use, and the hot tempers of Punjabi men.
Due to this, he was considered controversial and earned many detractors who considered his music to be obscene. When he and his band went to Mehsampur in Punjab for a show, both Amar and Amarjot were gunned down at 2 in the afternoon. A gang of motorcyclists fired several rounds, fatally wounding the couple and other members of the entourage. Despite being murdered in broad daylight, no arrests were made and the case has still not been solved. There are various conspiracy theories behind the killings, you can read about them here.
3) Sunanda Pushkar
Diplomat and politician Shashi Tharoor‘s late wife Sunanda Pushkar passed away under mysterious circumstances in 2014. Two days before her death, a series of intimate messages, supposedly sent by the Pakistani journalist Mehar Tarar to Shashi Tharoor, were posted on his Twitter account. Mehar claimed that her account had been hacked. But Sunanda said that the account had not been hacked and that she had posted the messages to expose how Mehar was stalking Shashi. Sunanda also accused Mehr of being an ISI agent.
The next day, a note titled as “joint statement by Sunanda and Shashi Tharoor” was published on Shashi’s Facebook page. The note stated that the couple was happily married, and that some personal comments not intended for publication had been misrepresented after being posted to Twitter. The note also stated that Sunanda had been hospitalized after being ill, and was seeking rest. On 17th January, she was found dead in her hotel room in New Delhi. The matter is still sub judice but there are are various theories about the cause of her death.
4) Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj Banjade
This is definitely one of the most sensational murder mysteries in India which has still not been completely solved. On the night of 15th (or 16th May), 2008, 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar and 45-year-old Hemraj Banjade, a domestic worker, employed by her family in Noida, were killed. The case aroused a lot of public interest and received incredible amounts of media coverage. Sadly, the news was full of salacious and character assassinating allegations against Aarushi and her parents which was criticized by many as a trial by media.
The CBI suspected the three domestic servants of the family, but they were released due to insufficient evidence and the CBI handed over the investigation to a new team. Based on circumstantial evidence, the team named Aarushi’s father Rajesh Talwar as the sole suspect, but refused to charge him due to lack of any hard evidence. The parents opposed this allegation. But a court rejected the CBI’s claim that there was not enough evidence, and ordered proceedings against the Talwars. In November 2013, the parents were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Many critics argued that the judgment was based on weak evidence, and the Talwars have challenged the decision in the Allahabad High Court. This case has been adapted into two Hindi movies, a book and a podcast. You can read more about the it here.
5) Scarlett Keeling
British teenager Scarlett Keeling‘s bruised and half-naked body was found on Anjuna Beach (Goa) in 2008. Scarlett was on a six-month trip to India with her extended family when this incident happened. The 15-year-old had left her family to attend a Valentine’s Day party in Anjuna, and was found drowned on the beach days later.
Two Indian men, Samson D’Souza and Placido Carvalho were accused of culpable homicide and sexual assault but in a 2016 judgement, the two were cleared of the charges due to insufficient evidence as a key eye-witness denied to come to court.
6) Stoneman
The Stoneman was a name given by the popular English language print media of Calcutta to an unidentified serial killer who murdered at least 13 homeless people of that city during their sleep in 1989.
The murders allegedly happened over six months (the first in June 1989), but it was never established whether the crimes were committed by one person or a group or if it was a case of copycat murders. Till date, no one has been sentenced for these crimes, making this one of the oldest unsolved mysteries in India. There were two films based on this subject as well.
7) Adnan Patarwala
Adnan Patrawala was the teenage son of Aslam Patrawala, a businessperson from Mumbai. On 18 August 2007, Adnan was kidnapped for Rs. 2 crore ransom. He was murdered the next day when news of the kidnapping became public.
On 30 Jan 2012, Mumbai sessions court acquitted four of the five accused as the prosecution failed to prove its case. Adnan’s father then said that he would appeal to a higher court.
You think any of them will ever be solved, or will the victims’ families ever get closure? This is just really sad.