A software engineer wanted by police for the alleged murder of his girlfriend in Maryland, US, was arrested after authorities traced him to an apartment in Agra.
Arjun Sharma, 28, the suspect in the murder of 27-year-old Nikitha Godishala, was tracked to a flat in Agra by a team of Hyderabad police.
Hyderabad Police said that Nikitha's father filed a complaint in April alleging that Sharma had borrowed money from her but failed to return it.
Godishala was found dead with multiple stab wounds at an apartment in Columbia, Maryland, on New Year’s Eve 2025. The US police had obtained a warrant for Sharma’s arrest on first- and second-degree murder charges, alleging that he killed her and then fled to India.
Sharma came under the radar in India during a cheating case registered in Telengana. A hyderabd police official said The cheating case was registered in Telangana against Sharma in April following a complaint that he had cheated the woman after taking money from her and did not return it, "During the investigation, after getting certain clues, a police team was sent to Agra, which caught the accused in a flat, and a notice was issued to him (in connection with the cheating case). Since a case was already registered against him in the US and an NBW was pending, the central authorities were informed," the official told news agency PTI.
The Howard County police department said that it had been informed by Indian authorities that Sharma was in custody.
Officials have not announced a timeline for his transfer to the United States.
Nikitha, a resident of Ellicott City, Maryland, was reported missing on January 2.
US investigators initially described Sharma as Godishala’s boyfriend. However, her father, Anand Godishala, said the two were only roommates and claimed the murder was linked to a financial dispute.
The Delhi court ordered Sharma, who is a native of Chennai, to be taken into custody anf noted that the charges against him meet the criteria for extradition under the India US extradition treaty.
According to the victims’ parents, Sharma lost his employment around August–September 2025
He then reportedly borrowed money from Godishala and other members of the family. They said that there were financial disputes between the two before her death and alleged that Sharma also had monetary dealings with several other people in the United States.
