Hyderabad | Nepal-based gang arrested in retired IPS officer’s wife murder case after six-month hunt

Hyderabad | Nepal-based gang arrested in retired IPS officer’s wife murder case after six-month hunt left Police personnel outside the residence of former IPS officer Vinay Ranjan Ray. File SIDDHANT THAKUR The Hindu SIDDHANT THAKUR Police personnel continue to remain outside the residence of former IPS officer Vinay Ranjan,after his wife Tanuja Ranjan was found dead under suspicious circumstances on Friday at Prashasan Nagar, Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad on Saturday, May 9, 2026.

Photo: SIDDHANT THAKUR/The Hindu. The police said the gang members fled after the crime and later dispersed across different locations to evade detection HYDERABAD Hyderabad Police have busted a Nepal-based murder-for-gain gang and arrested four persons in connection with the murder of Tanuja Ranjan, the wife of retired IPS officer Ray Vinay Ranjan, at their residence in Jubilee Hills in May.

The four accused, including a woman domestic worker, were apprehended near Nampally Railway Station on Monday (October 26, 2026) by a joint team of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed to track the Nepal gang, and Jubilee Hills police. Police seized incriminating material and ₹51,130 in cash from them. Tanuja was found dead in her bedroom at Prashasan Nagar on May 8, 2026, after her daughter alerted police.

The house was ransacked and 225 grams of gold jewellery and other valuables were found missing. The police said the domestic maid, 26-year-old Dharma Tiruwa alias Kalpana, a Nepal native, absconded after the incident. The four arrested were identified as Kalpana, 31-year-old Ganesh B.K., 44-year-old Chandra Bahadur Tamang alias Shanker Chandra Lama, and 37-year-old Ganesh Bahadur Shahi.

The police said they were part of a gang that planned the robbery after gathering information about the household and facilitated entry into the house. The police said the gang members fled after the crime and later dispersed across different locations to evade detection. The SIT conducted searches across several States and spent more than five months carrying out field operations near the India-Nepal border to track the suspects.

Earlier, on May 22, police had arrested Sunil Bahadur Aauji alias Sunil Pariyar and alleged receiver Dilip Bahadur Mijar alias Sonar and recovered 26 grams of stolen property. Further investigation is underway.