Indian man uses AI-generated funeral to fake death and evade murder trial

An Indian man suspected of murder allegedly used artificial intelligence to fake his death, get a death certificate and evade police for nearly 18 months before they arrested him, officials said.

38-year-old Rajkumar Rajbhar, who was taken into custody on Sunday by investigators in UP’s Mau district following the revelation of the scam, NDTV reported.

Rajbhar was facing trial for the 2016 shooting death of Yogesh Singh. Police have claimed he convened a funeral in May 2025, cremating a goat and then digitally inserting an AI image of himself on a funeral pyre.

It was also planned that photographs of the fake funeral procession and the last rites would be taken. According to police, Rajbhar later procured a death certificate from the Mau Municipal Council and filed the documents with the court to create a false record of his death.

“Investigators say he faked his own death as a way not only to avoid criminal charges, but also to get out of paying back the money he collected from people on the promise of investing it in the stock market.

Another Superintendent of Police, Anoop Kumar, said there was a different complaint registered over the forgery.

Now Rajbhar has to face the murder trial he wanted to avoid, as well as the separate case over the fake death papers.