Raakh, the newest show available on Amazon Prime Video, gets its motivation from the infamous Ranga Billa case that took place in 1978 in India. The case is still alive in the minds of people almost after fifty years.
Nearly five decades later, this incident still sends chills down the spine. This is not only because of the brutality of the crime, but also because it forever changed the way people think about child safety in India.
The disappearance of Geeta and Sanjay Chopra
On the evening of 26 August 1978, siblings Geeta Chopra, 16, and Sanjay Chopra, 14, left their home in Delhi to participate in a programme at All India Radio. Their father, Navy officer Captain M.M. Chopra, was supposed to pick them up later that evening, but the children never arrived at the studio.
While trying to get a lift, the siblings were abducted by Kuljeet Singh alias Ranga and Jasbir Singh alias Billa, who were travelling in a stolen Fiat car. Witnesses later reported hearing screams and seeing signs of a struggle inside the vehicle.
A crime that shocked the entire nation
It came to light that the kidnappers wanted to ask for a ransom but, after finding out about the father’s military background, they chose to kill the children so that they would not be able to identify them. The children were brought to the Delhi Ridge and brutally killed there. Their dead bodies were found two days later, which caused a huge scandal throughout the whole nation.
Arrest, trial and execution
After fleeing Delhi, Ranga and Billa were eventually caught while travelling on the Kalka Mail. They were handed over to the police and later tried for kidnapping and murder. The trial attracted enormous public attention. Both men were convicted and sentenced to death, a verdict upheld by the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. Their mercy petitions were also rejected. Ranga and Billa were executed in Delhi’s Tihar Jail on 31 January 1982.
The last breath
At the appointed time, the jail superintendent waved a red handkerchief, and Kalu, with Fakira’s help, pulled the lever. Two hours later, when doctors examined him, Billa was found dead. But Ranga’s pulse was still beating. It is said that because he was tall and had held his breath during the hanging, he did not die immediately. A prison employee was then lowered into the well and pulled his legs. Only then did he died.
2024 book Fallen City: A Double Murder, Political Insanity, and Delhi’s Descent from Grace by Sudeep Chakravarti also records that in the history of hanging, a lever was pulled so forcefully that the body was split in two, with the neck remaining on top while the lower body fell into the well. The bodies of Ranga and Billa were not accepted by their families or relatives. Their last rites were performed by the prison itself.
Bravery awards are given every year in the name of Geeta and Sanjay
In 1978, the Indian Council for Child Welfare established two bravery awards for children under the age of 16: the Sanjay Chopra Award and the Geeta Chopra Award. These awards are given annually alongside the National Bravery Awards.
The murders of Geeta and Sanjay Chopra had a lasting impact on the country and sparked conversations around child safety that continue to this day.
While Raakh revisits the case through a fictionalised lens, the real-life events remain far more chilling than anything seen on screen.
