Crime Patrol (क्राइम पेट्रोल)

What Is Crime Patrol?

Crime Patrol (क्राइम पेट्रोल) is India's longest-running true-crime anthology series, available to stream on SonyLIV and originally broadcast on Sony Entertainment Television (SET). Unlike a documentary focused on a single case or perpetrator, Crime Patrol is a sprawling, episodic franchise — each installment dramatizes a different real-life criminal case drawn from police records, court filings, and news reports across India. Since its premiere on May 9, 2003, the series has produced over 500 episodes, making it one of the most prolific true-crime productions in the world.

The series is anchored by Anup Soni, whose authoritative narration and direct-to-camera addresses have become iconic in Indian television. Episodes range from 30 minutes (Seasons 1–2) to 40 minutes (Season 3 onward), and the series is produced in Hindi, reaching audiences across the Hindi-speaking belt of India and the Indian diaspora worldwide.

According to IMDb, Crime Patrol holds a rating of 7.8 out of 10 based on 1,800+ user ratings — a remarkable score for a long-running anthology series of this scale.

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The Cases: An Anthology of Indian Crime

Because Crime Patrol is an anthology, there is no single perpetrator, victim, or verdict that defines the series. Instead, each episode presents its own self-contained story. The cases span an enormous range of crime types: domestic murder, honour killings, kidnapping for ransom, fraud, sexual violence, and organized crime. The geographic sweep is equally broad — cases originate from urban metros like Delhi and Mumbai as well as rural villages in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and beyond.

Notable Featured Cases

Case: Honour Killing in Gulal Khera, Uttar Pradesh (2011)

One of the most discussed episodes dramatizes the murder of a young woman named Babli, killed by her own family after they discovered her romantic relationship with Prem Yadav, a gangster and property dealer. The case, which occurred in Gulal Khera village, Uttar Pradesh, is a stark example of honour-based violence that continues to plague rural India. The family's violent response to Babli's perceived transgression of caste and social norms cost her her life. Crime Patrol's dramatized retelling brought the case to a national audience unfamiliar with its details.

Case: Kundan Yadav and the Murder of Juhi (from Crime Patrol Satark)

Another episode — part of the Crime Patrol Satark sub-series — follows Kundan Yadav, a young man who maintains his innocence in the murder of Juhi, his lover. The case involves hidden relationships, property disputes, and shifting suspicion among relatives. The episode illustrates Crime Patrol's recurring theme: crimes that begin in domestic tension and spiral into tragedy. This case was based on events from 2011.

Case: The Shraddha Walkar Controversy (2022)

Perhaps the most high-profile controversy in the series' history involves a 2022 episode that closely mirrored the real-life Shraddha Walkar murder case — in which Aftab Poonia allegedly murdered and dismembered his 26-year-old partner Shraddha Walkar in Delhi. Crime Patrol aired a fictionalized version in which the religious identities of the couple were altered (depicted as a Christian woman and a Hindu man named "Mihir"). The episode triggered immediate backlash on social media, with calls to boycott the network.

Sony TV responded with an official public statement clarifying that the episode was a "work of fiction" based on events from 2011 — not a dramatization of the Walkar case — and discontinued airing the episode amid the controversy. Critics argued the similarity was too close to be coincidental and that the religious framing was irresponsible given the communal tensions surrounding the real case.

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Production

Crime Patrol was created by Subramanian S. Iyer (also credited as Subramanya Sivyer) and directed in its first season by Anshuman Kishore Singh. The production philosophy of the series is rooted in a public-awareness mission: the show's producers have consistently maintained that dramatizing real crimes serves a social function — educating viewers about criminal patterns, warning signs of domestic abuse, and the mechanics of police investigation.

The series features professional actors playing the roles of victims, perpetrators, police officers, and witnesses, with Anup Soni's narration providing factual context and moral framing. Production values have evolved significantly over the two-decade run — early episodes were shot on modest budgets with straightforward re-enactments, while later seasons and the Crime Patrol 2.0 reboot feature more cinematic direction and tighter scripts.

The franchise has also expanded into limited-run specials. The most recent, *Crime Patrol – 26 Jurm, 26 Cases* (2025, 28 episodes), adopts a more curated approach — selecting 26 individual criminal cases for focused, in-depth dramatization.

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Reception

Crime Patrol has been a ratings success for Sony Entertainment Television for over two decades. Reviewer Riptide Malhotra, writing for India TV, noted that "popularity is quite high" owing to the series' "true depiction of real-life happenings in dramatized form." The show's longevity — 500+ episodes across the flagship series alone — is itself a testament to sustained viewer demand.

On IMDb, the series holds a 7.8/10 rating, placing it among the better-regarded Indian television productions of the 2000s and 2010s.

However, the series has not been without criticism. Scholars and journalists covering Indian media have raised concerns about how dramatization can distort the facts of real cases — compressing timelines, altering identities, or sensationalizing violence for dramatic effect. The Shraddha Walkar episode controversy in 2022 crystallized these concerns in a very public way, forcing Sony TV into a rare direct response to its audience.

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The Series Today

As of 2025, the Crime Patrol franchise remains active. Crime Patrol 2.0 continues to produce new episodes on SonyLIV, and the special series Crime Patrol – 26 Jurm, 26 Cases represents the franchise's latest evolution toward more curated, limited-run storytelling. Anup Soni's continued involvement as anchor provides continuity between the original series and its newer iterations.

The Shraddha Walkar case — one of the real crimes that triggered controversy for Crime Patrol — remains in the Indian court system, with the trial against Aftab Poonia ongoing. The intersection of real-time high-profile criminal proceedings and Crime Patrol's rapid dramatization cycle is likely to remain a tension point for the franchise going forward.

With over two decades on air, Crime Patrol stands as a defining institution of Indian true-crime media — sprawling, controversial, and undeniably influential in shaping how millions of Indian viewers understand crime, justice, and the human capacity for violence.