In late August 1978, Geeta and Sanjay Chopra stepped out of their home in a quiet neighbourhood in Delhi. Geeta had to record a programme at All India Radio. Her younger brother Sanjay accompanied her. The two teenagers disappeared. Four days later, their disfigured bodies would be found by cowherds in a deserted corner of the Ridge, a thickly forested area on the western outskirts of the city. The brutal killing of the children traumatized the city and transfixed the nation. The prime minister had to answer questions about the crime in parliament and police forces in numerous states were mobilized to hunt down the killers.
In this first full-length book about the murder and its aftermath, bestselling author and journalist Sudeep Chakravarti, a long-time resident of New Delhi, remembers the horrific crime using eyewitness accounts, archival research, court records, and original interviews that shed fresh light on the tragedy.
Sudeep Chakravarti is the author of several bestselling works of history, ethnography, politics, conflict, and the intersection of business and human rights. His notable non-fiction works are The Bengalis: A Portrait of a Community, Plassey: The Battle that Changed the Course of Indian History, The Eastern Gate, Red Sun, Highway 39, and Clear.Hold.Build.
Several of his books have either won awards or been shortlisted for major awards. He has written novels and short stories, and his essays are contained in several anthologies. An extensively published columnist, media consultant, and regional risk analyst, Sudeep has nearly four decades of experience in media. He has worked with major global and Indian media organizations including the Asian Wall Street Journal, where he began his career, and held leadership positions at Sunday, the India Today Group, and HT Media. Sudeep is also an educator and teaches a range of subjects from media and literature to South Asian history and geopolitics. He founded the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.
Sudeep read history at St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. He is associated with Coastal Impact, an organization of divers and scientists which conducts research for institutions and evangelizes marine conservation to school and university students. He divides his time between Goa and various cities across South Asia.
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