Raman Raghav was born in 1929 in India. Very little is known about his early life, family, or education. He had several other names, including Sindhi Talwai, Anna, Thambi, and Veluswami. Before becoming infamous, Raghav had already been in trouble with the law and served five years in prison for robbery. After getting out of jail, he lived homeless in Mumbai.

Between 1965 and 1968, Raman Raghav became one of India's most feared criminals. He started killing people sleeping on the streets of Mumbai, using a heavy blunt object to beat them to death. His victims were mostly homeless individuals who slept outside, making them easy targets.

His first set of murders happened in 1965 and 1966, during which he attacked 19 people, killing 9. He continued his attacks in 1968, adding even more victims and causing widespread fear in Mumbai.

On August 27, 1968, Mumbai police finally arrested Raghav. After his arrest, he confessed to killing 41 people along the Great Indian Peninsular Railway line in 1966, and nearly a dozen more in 1968 around Mumbai's suburbs. However, the actual number of victims could have been higher.

During his trial, Raghav was found guilty and sentenced to death. But doctors diagnosed him with a serious mental illness called chronic paranoid schizophrenia. Because of this, his death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment on August 4, 1987. He was held at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune, Maharashtra, until his death from kidney failure in 1995.

Raman Raghav’s terrifying crimes inspired many films, most famously "Raman Raghav 2.0", a Bollywood movie released in 2016.