The murders of the Chohan family remain one of Britain’s most disturbing organised-crime cases. In February 2003, businessman Amarjit Chohan, his wife Nancy, their two infant sons and Nancy’s mother were kidnapped and killed by men who wanted control of Amarjit’s haulage business.
The family’s bodies were first buried on land in Devon. Weeks later, the killers dug them up and took them to the Dorset coast, where the remains were dumped at sea. The bodies of the three adults were eventually recovered. The two babies, Ravinder and Devinder, have never been found.
A new episode of the true-crime podcast On The Case, released on September 21, 2026, revisits the case and the investigation that exposed a plot driven by money, deception and the planned takeover of a legitimate freight company.
What happened to the Chohan family?
Amarjit Chohan, also known as Anil, ran Ciba Freight, a haulage business based in west London. Prosecutors later argued that career criminals Kenneth Regan and William Horncy wanted to take control of the company and use it to support drug smuggling.
Amarjit was lured to a meeting in February 2003 after being approached about the possible sale of his business. The meeting was presented as a business opportunity, but prosecutors said it was a trap. He was kidnapped, held captive and murdered.
The gang then faced a serious problem: Amarjit’s disappearance could attract suspicion, particularly if his family remained alive and able to tell police what had happened. According to the prosecution case, Regan and Horncy went to the Chohan family home in Hounslow and abducted Nancy, her mother Charanjit Kaur and the couple’s two young sons.
The victims were:
- Amarjit Chohan, a businessman in his mid-40s;
- Nancy Chohan, his young wife;
- Ravinder Chohan, their eight-week-old son;
- Devinder Chohan, their 18-month-old son; and
- Charanjit Kaur, Nancy’s mother.
The family was killed and initially buried at a rural property in Devon. Investigators later established that the bodies were removed from the grave and transported to the sea off Dorset, apparently in an attempt to destroy evidence and make the victims disappear permanently.
How were the two babies killed?
The court convicted the men of murdering the children, but the precise method used to kill Ravinder and Devinder was never conclusively established. The gangsters did not provide a reliable account of what happened, and the babies’ bodies were never recovered.
That distinction matters. It is accurate to say that the two babies were murdered and that their remains were later disposed of at sea, based on the prosecution case and the convictions. It is not accurate to claim that the exact cause or method of their deaths is known when the available evidence did not establish it.
The adult victims’ post-mortem examinations also failed to provide a complete explanation of how they died. Amarjit’s cause of death was recorded as unascertained but consistent with asphyxiation. The absence of the children’s bodies made it impossible to conduct comparable examinations of Ravinder and Devinder.
The lack of a definitive medical explanation has remained one of the most painful and unresolved aspects of the case. The families of the victims were left without the answers that usually come from recovering and examining a body.
Why were the bodies dumped in the sea?
The disposal at sea appears to have been an effort to conceal the crime. The bodies were initially buried in a Devon field, but the investigation began closing in on the men involved. Police searched the property after receiving information that a grave had been dug there.
Evidence connected to Amarjit was found at the site, including clothing and jewellery. Investigators concluded that the bodies had likely been buried there before being moved. The killers then took them to the Dorset coast and placed them in the water.
The plan did not prevent the case from being uncovered. In April 2003, Amarjit’s body was found in the sea near Bournemouth Pier by a man who had been canoeing with his son. His face had been covered with parcel tape, and there was a serious injury to his head.
Nancy’s body was later recovered from the water. Charanjit’s remains were also found. The discovery of the bodies transformed what had initially looked like a disappearance into a murder investigation.
Ravinder and Devinder were never located. Their absence meant that investigators had to rely on witness evidence, forensic material, financial records and the actions of the defendants to reconstruct the crime.
What was the motive for the Chohan family murders?
The prosecution said the motive was financial. Regan wanted to take over Amarjit’s haulage business but did not have the money to buy it legitimately. The company could also provide a useful front for transporting illegal drugs, according to the case presented at trial.
Amarjit was allegedly pressured into signing documents and cooperating with the plan while he was being held captive. The killers then attempted to create the impression that he had left with his family, giving them time to exploit the business and delay police intervention.
The plan began to unravel when relatives and associates refused to accept that the family had simply disappeared. Nancy’s brother, Onkar Verma, was particularly persistent in pressing for answers. Police also became increasingly sceptical of the explanations being offered by those connected to Amarjit’s business dealings.
The case showed how a financial motive can expand into a far wider crime when perpetrators believe witnesses must be eliminated. The victims were not limited to the businessman at the centre of the dispute. Three generations of one family were killed, including two children who had no involvement in the business or the alleged criminal scheme.
Who was convicted over the Chohan family murders?
Kenneth Regan and William Horncy were convicted in 2005 of the murders of all five members of the Chohan family. Both received whole-life orders, meaning they were sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison with no prospect of release.
Peter Rees was also convicted in connection with the case. He was found guilty of murdering Amarjit and of related offences, including helping to conceal the crime. He received a lengthy prison sentence but was not convicted of all five murders.
The trial lasted many months and became one of the longest and most expensive murder cases handled by the Metropolitan Police. The prosecution relied on a complex combination of testimony, forensic evidence, documents and the defendants’ conduct after the disappearances.
The men denied the charges. Their accounts shifted the blame towards other criminals and disputed the prosecution’s explanation of how the family had died. The jury rejected the central defence arguments and convicted Regan and Horncy of the five murders.
What does the new On The Case episode reveal?
The new episode, titled Cold Blooded Killers, retells the case for listeners who may know only its most shocking detail: that two babies were among the victims and that their bodies were never found.
The programme focuses on the sequence of events leading from the attempted takeover of Ciba Freight to the family’s disappearance, the burial in Devon and the later dumping of the bodies at sea. It also examines how detectives began to recognise that the missing family was not the result of a voluntary disappearance.
The episode features commentary from Piri Thirunimalan, a senior reporter with The Crime Desk, and refers to the investigative work carried out by police officers involved in the original case. Its central value is not simply in repeating the horror of the murders, but in showing how the evidence emerged from a case in which the perpetrators tried to remove both the victims and the physical traces of what they had done.
Because the podcast is a retrospective account, listeners should distinguish between established court findings and details that remain uncertain. The convictions confirm that the five family members were murdered. They do not provide a complete forensic account of how every victim died, particularly the two babies whose bodies were never recovered.
The Chohan family murders continue to be remembered not only because of their brutality, but because of the calculated motive behind them. Amarjit’s business was treated as an asset to be seized, and his family was treated as an obstacle to be removed. The recovery of three bodies brought the truth to light, but the fate of Ravinder and Devinder remains unresolved in the most literal sense: their remains have never been found.