By Geetika Jain Call him a con man, a murderer, a drug dealer, a jewel thief or simply a master planner- Charles Sobhraj is all this and more. The slippery "serpent" has put intelligence and law-enforcing agencies around the globe at their wits` end and found his way out always. A glimpse at his life makes one wonder whether he is a real person or a character straight out of Robert Ludlum`s thrill-packed, adventure-filled stories. Sobhraj, a Vietnamese-Indian by birth and French national by adoption, lived a life of adventure and conniving that made him an infamous celebrity of sorts whose notoriety spread like rapid fire all over the globe. Mid-70s was the time when he came to be known as a high-profile serial killer who would drug and then set ablaze gullible tourists for anything from their passports to the money that they were carrying or at times simply to steal their identity for his use. Crimes
He started his honeymoon with the dark world of felony operating small-time scams and frauds. His first stint in jail came in Paris in 1963. Alone, without anyone who cared whether he lived or died, Sobhraj decided to make his family and all society pay for throwing him away. He travelled all over East fooling unsuspecting tourists and robbing them of their money, jewellery, passport and identity papers, and eventually killing them, often using poison. During 1972-1973, he travelled to Karachi, Pakistan, Rome, Teheran, Kabul, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria robbing tourists. He had no scruples in using his wife Chantal for his hideous deeds. In fact, all the women whom he befriended became accomplices in his crimes at one time or the other. Marie LeClerc was the woman who became his closest confidante and associate. List of innocent tourists who fell victim to Charles’ psychic tendencies is long. American tourist Jennie Bollivar was among his first victims. Her body was found floating in the warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand in 1972 in a simple floral bikini. After this he was dubbed as The Bikini Killer. Charles ventured on a killing spree after this. Sobhraj`s lust for blood knew no bounds. Sephardic Jew, Vitali Hakim, Charmayne Carrou, a French citizen, Dutch students Henk Bintanja and his fiancée, Cornelia "Cocky" Hemker were the names that kept elongating the catalogue of people who fell into his murderous web. In Nepal, he killed a pair of wandering Westerners, Laddie DuParr and Annabella Tremont. From Nepal, he crossed over to India to slip into Kolkata. Here, Israeli scholar Avoni Jacob became his victim. In Mumbai, Charles and Marie poisoned a Frenchman named Jean-Luc Solomon. Sobhraj was arrested many times in France, Afghanistan, Greece and India, but usually managed to either escape or bribe his way out of trouble. Indian connection

His Indian connection begins with his birth. His father was an Indian tailor, H Gurmukh Sobhraj, who abandoned his Vietnamese mother immediately after his birth. He grew up as a recalcitrant and irreverent child and indulged into small time crimes from quite an early age. Charles was always fond of his Orient connection and kept returning to East although only to execute his grisly plans. He always believed that in East, everything could be bought if the price quoted is right. During much of 1970, Sobhraj operated a stolen car brokerage operation. Restless and sharp-minded at the same time, he planned big and staged a heist in Hotel Ashoka in Delhi. The robbery was an aborted attempt but Sobhraj managed to flee to Mumbai where he resumed his car theft business. In India, he was arrested for the first time in Mumbai on charges of car theft and attempted Ashoka heist. Shrewd and clever that he was, he made everybody believe that he is suffering from appendicitis. He got himself operated for the same in Wellingdon Hospital. It was from here that he made a dramatic escape. Ajay Chowdhry, a Jat from Bulandshehar in Uttar Pradesh, formed an important part of his coterie. Although Ajay remained with him only for two years, he proved to be a gem for Sobhraj. As cold and ruthless as Charles himself, they formed good pair. However, Charles got rid of Ajay in Malaysia where he made the latter procure wealthy gems for him. No one knows what happened to Ajay in Malaysia but he has not been since then. Whether he is dead or alive is a mystery. He was detained in Delhi for drugging few French tourists and jailed. Sneh Sengar was his defence counsel when the case was in Tis Hazari courts. Rumours were abuzz about Charles’ affair with Sneh but nothing can be said for sure. There were also rumours that she was doing just to gain publicity for herself. However, Sneh provided him with all the support that he wanted during this time. When he was imprisoned in Tihar Jail in 1975, he took his incarceration in a very easy way. He befriended the guards in the jail and used to treat the fellow prisoners and guards alike. Although his birthday is in September, he celebrated it in March in Tihar and during the party he drugged the guards on duty and fled from the jail. Three months later, he himself called up the police officer from Goa and got himself imprisoned again. In fact, Madhukar Jhende is the only officer who caught him twice.
In Tihar, he spent 19 years, two months and 13 days, to be precise. During these years, he acquired a sort of celebrity status in jail. Reportedly, he was allowed to keep a television set, refrigerator, type-writer and a huge library of books with him in jail. He also ordered fine gourmet and wine from jail. It seems this debonair quite enjoyed his stay in the jail. Kiran Bedi, the super cop, admits in her autobiography ‘I Dare’ that Charles Sobhraj was one of the most high-profile and different prisoner that she ever had to deal with. She tried to reform Sobhraj but probably to little avail. On February 17, 1997, the Serpent walked out of Tihar Prison. Government decided to deport conman Charles Sobhraj to France immediately by withdrawing all pending cases against him throughout India. It was believed that his further stay in India may create law and order problems. Being a psycopath, he killed only because people came in his way or he wanted to procure what they had. He killed for thrill-seeking, an almost insatiable desire to win, and the propensity to injure others. In the end, he returned to France where he started charging reporters for interviews. Today, he is in custody of Kathmandu Police who would try him for crimes committed 28 years back. Whether the `Serpent` would slip again out of the hands of authorities remains to be seen.