{"id":722229,"date":"2026-06-08T03:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T03:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/722229\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T03:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T03:11:09","slug":"missing-melbourne-teacher-allegedly-drugged-and-murdered-by-brother-in-india-australia-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/722229\/","title":{"rendered":"Missing Melbourne teacher allegedly drugged and murdered by brother in India | Australia news"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Australian teacher who went missing in India<\/a> for two weeks was allegedly murdered by his brother over a property dispute, police say.<\/p>\n

Melbourne maths teacher Sunil Sharma disappeared on 22 May after he travelled to Amritsar, in India\u2019s north-western Punjab state.<\/p>\n

Local police said on Sunday morning (AEST) that investigations into the disappearance suggested Sharma was allegedly murdered over a property he owned.<\/p>\n

Four people have been arrested as part of the investigation, Amritsar local police said.<\/p>\n

Indian police allege Sharma\u2019s brother, Satish Sharma, spiked his drink with sleeping pills before delivering fatal blows to his head with a baseball bat.<\/p>\n

Sharma\u2019s body was allegedly dumped in a canal, with police continuing to search for his remains.<\/p>\n

His daughter, Surbhi Sharma, said police statements alleged her uncle and his associates had created a fake power of attorney and sold properties owned by her father and her aunty.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Surbhi said her father was a good man.<\/p>\n

Sharma remembered her father as an intelligent, strong, and funny person who was also \u201cloving and sensitive\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a heart of gold and he gave everything to the people he loved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was always there for us, sometimes even a little too much, but I would not change a single moment of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president of the Punjabi Club of Victoria said the community was deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic alleged murder of Sharma during his visit to India.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo family should have to endure such a senseless and tragic loss,\u201d Param Jaswal said in a statement. \u201cActs of violence have no place in any society and must be dealt with firmly under the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

He acknowledged the prompt and professional efforts of local police in investigating the case and apprehending the alleged culprits.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir swift action has provided some reassurance to the family and community that justice is being pursued,\u201d Jaswal said.<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s education department and Sharma\u2019s colleagues at Diamond Valley college, where he taught for 13 years, have sent their condolences to his family, a department spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr Sharma was a dedicated and valued member of the Diamond Valley college community,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur heartfelt sympathies and thoughts are with Mr Sharma\u2019s family, friends, colleagues and students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s Department of Foreign Affairs is aware of the arrests made in relation to the teacher\u2019s death and is in regular contact with local authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Australian teacher who went missing in India for two weeks was allegedly murdered by his brother over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-722229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}