On March 23rd, 2017 police responded to an apartment complex located in Maple Shade, New Jersey after Hanumanth Narra the husband of Sasikala (38) and father of Anish Narra (6) discovered their bodies inside their Fox Meadows, Maple Shade apartment. Police during the investigation determined the cause of death was stabbing.
Police over the years had a suspect in this case that being Nazeer Hameed (38) with police announcing him as being the culprit during a November 18th press conference. He has been charged by police with 2 counts of murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon.
At the time of the case police looked at cellphone data, financial records, and rideshare data which led to Hameed being identified as a person of interest. It was determined that Hameed worked with the husband Hanumanth at Cognizant Technology Solutions as a consultant. He also lived within walking distance of the apartment and in June 2019 police were able to determine the blood type at the scene which was from an unknown suspect was the same blood type as Hameed’s following later testing.
What held the case from moving forward with charges was the lack of cooperation from Hameed with getting a DNA sample to compare due to having left the US in September of 2017. In 2020 authorities in India let the FBI know he had refused the order for a sample, a 2nd request was submitted in 2023 to the government in India however it was denied. In September of 2024 a court order subpoena forced Cognizant to give investigators Hameed’s laptop to State Police in New Jersey. In December of 2024 police matched DNA recovered on the laptop with blood samples in the house to Hameed.
Hameed is currently not in police custody in either the US or India and is still at large. Sometime after November of 2023 he was fired from Cognizant Technology Solutions after working for them in Chennai, India. The US along with the Prosecuting Office in Maple Shade have requested authorities in India to extradite him to the US to stand trial in the double murder. Alongside authorities in India the FBI has been requested by local police in Maple Shade to assist with the search and extradition of Hameed. A motive for the murders in this case has not been confirmed.
In December the FBI announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to Hameed's arrest and conviction. This was also part of a recent push by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy sending a letter to the US ambassador to India requesting assistance from the government with the extradition of Hameed.
Source:
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/philadelphia/news/sasikala-and-anish-narra-maple-shade-nj-cold-case/
https://newjersey.news12.com/police-have-suspect-in-2017-deaths-of-maple-shade-mother-son
https://burlpros.org/murder-charges-filed-in-2017-maple-shade-slaying-of-mom-son/
https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/law-enforcement-assistance/nazeer-hameed/download.pdf
Timeline:
March 2017: The murders occur
September 2017: Hameed flees the country
June 2019: Blood type found at crime scene is compared to Hameed’s blood type and is matched as the same blood type but not identified.
2020: First DNA request denied
2023: 2nd request denied
September 2024: Court subpoena forces laptop to be handed over
December 2024: DNA test matched to Hameed
November 2025: Charges filed
December 2025: 50,000 reward for Hameed’s arrest
The suspect wanted in this case is a fugitive, I have attached his FBI wanted poster.
https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/law-enforcement-assistance/nazeer-hameed/download.pdf
So in November 2017 the police publicly name Hameed a suspect - he must have known before and that’s why he fled in September?
Wow my sister used to live in this apt complex! Thanks for the writeup
I made the mistake of googling this case and there is a super cute picture on Google image of Anish with his glasses and his eyes are so bright and kind - I honestly got teary eyed and choked up. How anyone can hurt someone this innocent and young and so viscously is beyond me.
This poor little boy and his mother deserve to be alive and well. I am so sad for him. Life is truly unfair. I hope they are both resting in peace and if there is some light out there that it protects them and if reincarnation is real - they get to live a beautiful hopeful kind life one day.
The crime does not make one a bit of sense. I hope India does the right thing and allow for his extradition.
How did Hameed first show up on the police radar as a person of interest?
If I had to guess it was at first circumstantial evidence he lived nearby in walking distance, worked with the husband, and cell phone data put him in that area. What sealed the deal was the blood at the scene matching him.
That and the fact that he had been stalking the husband for a while.
The second season of the Stangeland podcast is about this case. It’s a decent listen but I don’t remember this suspect being discussed. There are some very strange things about this case.
It looks like OP posted some AMP links. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of concerns over privacy and the Open Web.
Maybe check out the canonical pages instead:
https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/sasikala-and-anish-narra-maple-shade-nj-cold-case/
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/sasikala-narra-anish-double-homicide-maple-shade-new-jersey-announcement/4303927/
https://www.fox29.com/news/indian-national-accused-deadly-2017-stabbing-mother-son-burlington-county
https://www.nj.com/burlington/2025/11/a-tiny-droplet-of-blood-and-a-laptop-how-investigators-cracked-a-double-murder-after-8-years.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/nazeer-hameed-extradition-india-maple-shade-murder-phil-murphy/
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I remember a podcast about this case. The husband definitely hired Hameed, right? He acted super suspiciously after the murders.
No. I doubt this was a murder for hire. A hired killer usually does a clean job. These murders were so vicious and so brutal that police determined that it was someone with a lot of hate / venom towards the victim.
Police stated that Hameed had been stalking Hanu for a while. That's interesting & gives some clues as to motives. Maybe Hameed had a romantic attraction / obsession with Hanu, was rejected & then wrecked havoc on Hanu's wife and kid?
We'll only know if Hameed is extradited back to NJ & stands trial. Who knows if / when that might happen?