Some of the best Indian crime shows turn investigations into much more than a simple search for the culprit. From murder cases and serial killers to smuggling networks, intelligence missions and financial crime, these 15 shows combine strong mysteries with characters facing pressure, danger and difficult choices.
15 Best Indian Crime Investigative Shows on OTT
1. Paatal Lok – 2 Seasons (Prime Video)
Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhary finally gets a major case when four suspects are arrested for allegedly planning to kill a famous journalist, but the investigation soon exposes crime, political influence and deep social inequality. Season 2 takes him and IPS officer Imran Ansari to North-East India after the murder of an important Naga leader connects personal tragedy with a much wider conspiracy. Across both seasons, Hathi Ram keeps discovering that the official version of a crime rarely tells the full story.
2. Kohrra – 2 Seasons (Netflix)
Punjab becomes the setting for two deeply personal murder investigations where family secrets are as important as forensic clues. The first season begins with an NRI groom killed shortly before his wedding, while Season 2 follows the murder of a woman found inside her brother’s barn. As the officers question those closest to the victims, their own emotional struggles make the search for truth even more complicated.
3. Asur – 2 Seasons (JioHotstar)
Forensic experts Dhananjay Rajpoot and Nikhil Nair are drawn into the hunt for a serial killer who uses Indian mythology and the figure of Kali to justify his crimes. Across two seasons, coded messages, technology and psychological manipulation turn the case into a battle of ideas as much as an investigation. The detectives must understand the killer’s belief that darkness exists inside everyone before they can predict what he will do next.
4. Suzhal – The Vortex – 2 Seasons (Prime Video)
Each season places a disturbing crime against the backdrop of a major local festival, allowing community secrets to slowly become part of the investigation. Season 1 begins with an abduction and murder in a small industrial town, while Season 2 follows Inspector Sakkarai as he investigates activist lawyer Chellappa’s killing during the Ashtakaali Festival. Both cases uncover old relationships, buried truths and connections that run far deeper than the original crime.
5. Special Ops – 2 Seasons (JioHotstar)
RAW officer Himmat Singh leads a covert team through dangerous missions while trying to identify and stop powerful threats to national security. Across two seasons, the investigation moves through international operations, betrayals, cyber threats and enemies who repeatedly stay one step ahead. The series combines intelligence work, strategy and action with the personal sacrifices demanded by a secret life.
6. The Family Man – 3 Seasons (Prime Video)
Srikant Tiwari appears to be an ordinary middle-class husband, but he secretly works as an intelligence officer for the Threat Analysis and Surveillance Cell. His job involves tracking terror networks, investigating suspects and trying to prevent deadly attacks while keeping the truth about his work hidden from his family. The series mixes espionage and investigation with humour and the constant pressure of balancing national security with home life.
7. Criminal Justice – 4 Seasons (JioHotstar)
Lawyer Madhav Mishra repeatedly takes cases where the person who looks guilty may not be telling the complete story. Across four seasons, he represents a cab driver accused after a one-night stand, a woman who admits attacking her husband, a teenager blamed for a celebrity’s murder and a father found beside a dead nurse. Police work, prison experiences and courtroom arguments gradually expose facts that can completely change how each crime is understood.
8. Sacred Games – 2 Seasons (Netflix)
Mumbai police officer Sartaj Singh receives a strange warning from gangster Ganesh Gaitonde that the city has only 25 days before disaster strikes. As Sartaj follows the clues, Gaitonde’s criminal history begins connecting gangsters, politicians, police officers and a powerful religious figure to a dangerous plan unfolding in the present. Across two seasons, Sartaj races to understand the warning before the conspiracy reaches its final stage.
9. Shekhar Home (JioHotstar)
Writer Jayavrat Sahni becomes both housemate and investigative partner to the brilliant but highly unusual Shekhar Home in the Bengali town of Lonpur. Together, they solve strange cases by noticing small details and logical connections that others often overlook. While the mysteries initially seem separate, Shekhar’s sharp observations slowly guide him towards a much larger case with personal consequences.
10. Delhi Crime – 3 Seasons (Netflix)
DCP Vartika Chaturvedi and her team take on difficult cases while working under enormous public and emotional pressure. The three seasons cover the investigation into a brutal Delhi assault, violent attacks on elderly residents and a missing-mother case that exposes a human-trafficking network reaching across India and beyond. In every case, patient police work and seemingly minor clues gradually reveal the people operating behind the crimes.
11. Dhootha (Prime Video)
Sagar’s comfortable life begins collapsing when scraps of old newspapers start predicting gruesome accidents and deaths before they happen. When those predictions come true and suspicion falls on him, he is forced to investigate secrets connected to his own career and past while DCP Kranthi Shenoy examines the mysterious deaths. The supernatural mystery becomes a tense race to understand who is behind the warnings and why Sagar has become part of them.
12. Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web (Netflix)
Customs officer Arjun Meena returns from suspension to head a special team targeting organised smuggling through Mumbai airport. What begins with individual seizures gradually reveals a powerful international syndicate that understands exactly how to exploit weaknesses inside the system. Following contraband, money and hidden connections pushes the officers into an increasingly dangerous investigation.
13. Raakh (Prime Video)
The disappearance of two teenagers leaves a family shattered and sends investigators into a disturbing search for answers. As the case develops, hidden secrets begin surfacing and the mystery becomes darker than it first appeared. Starring Ali Fazal, Sonali Bendre and Aamir Bashir, the series combines an emotionally charged investigation with an unsettling crime story.
14. Farzi (Prime Video)
Talented artist Sunny discovers that his skills can create counterfeit currency that is extremely difficult to detect, pulling him deeper into organised crime. Task-force officer Michael takes charge of dismantling the operation and becomes determined to reach the people behind the fake notes. Their opposing missions turn the series into a clever cat-and-mouse investigation where both sides are constantly trying to outsmart each other.
15. November Story (JioHotstar)
Anuradha’s father, a celebrated crime writer suffering from memory loss, is discovered near a dead body and quickly comes under suspicion. Refusing to believe he committed the murder, she begins investigating the case herself and uncovers painful secrets connected to the past. The Tamil thriller uses memory, guilt and family emotion to make the search for the real killer increasingly disturbing.
From grounded police procedurals to psychological mysteries and intelligence operations, these Indian crime shows offer some of OTT’s most engaging investigations and complex cases.
