Faked his death with a goat and artificial intelligence: the murder suspect's ruse exposed

A murder suspect in India was arrested after, according to police, he faked his death using a burnt goat, AI-edited images and a forged death certificate submitted to court. Rajkumar Rajbhar, 38, was arrested in Mau district, Uttar Pradesh, after hiding for about 18 months to halt proceedings against him in a 2016 murder case.

Indian police arrested a murder suspect after he allegedly faked his death to stop criminal proceedings against him. The man, Rajkumar Rajbhar, 38, was arrested in Mau district in Uttar Pradesh after evading authorities for about 18 months. According to the suspicion, in May 2025 Rajbhar organised a staged funeral ceremony in the Ghazipur area, during which a goat was burned on a funeral pyre. Later, investigators say, image-editing tools and artificial intelligence were used to create photographs in which the suspect himself appeared to be lying on the pyre. The original images showed a headless goat carcass, and they were edited to look like his body. Images of a funeral procession and farewell ceremonies were also allegedly created. According to police, he also obtained a forged death certificate made to look like a document of the Mau municipal council. The certificate and photographs were submitted to court as evidence of his supposed death, in order to persuade that proceedings could no longer continue. Rajbhar is accused of involvement in the murder of Yogi Singh, a brick kiln owner from Mau who was shot dead on 19 December 2016. According to the suspicion, the murder occurred against the background of a financial dispute linked to loans and stock market investments. At the time he worked as an investment agent and received money from various people after promising to invest it for them; Singh was one of them. Police allege he planned the murder together with a man named Sudarshan, and the victim was shot near a railway track. The suspicion is that the faked death was also meant to avoid repaying money to investors. The investigation raised suspicion of involvement by two homeopathic doctors who had previously transferred money to Rajbhar for trading and cryptocurrency investments, and who, according to investigators, suggested he fake his death and helped formulate the plan. The exact extent of their involvement was not clarified. He was arrested following intelligence information, in activity by a police team and a special operations force in the Khwajaganjpur area.