Charles Sobhraj has been released by the Nepal court.
Panaji: Armando Gonsalves still remembers the evening of April 6, 1986, when Madhukar Zende, the then Inspector of Mumbai Crime Branch, pointed a gun at him to catch ‘serial killer’ Charles Sobhraj. At that time Sobhraj was sitting at the table next to her in a restaurant in Porvorim, Goa. Everything was normal at the time of the incident and the O’Coquerio restaurant was packed with customers. Armando, a local businessman, shared the memory of the time Sobhraj was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch team in Goa.
The restaurant is still running after 36 years
Armando said, ‘The wedding ceremony was going on on the other side of the restaurant. I was enjoying dinner with my friend Ospicio Rodrigues when the incident happened. For a moment I felt that a film was being shot. Even after 36 years of this incident, that restaurant is running and even today it is famous as the place of Sobhraj’s arrest. The restaurant management has installed a statue of Sobhraj in one corner, which has become a ‘selfie point’ for tourists and visitors.
Sobhraj was imprisoned since 2003
Explain that the Supreme Court of Nepal on Wednesday ordered the release of French ‘serial killer’ Charles Sobhraj, known as ‘Bikini Killer’ and ‘The Serpent’, on the basis of his health. Son of Indian and Vietnamese parents, Sobhraj is serving life sentence since 2003 for murder. During the years 1972 to 76, Sobhraj mostly used to trap tourists from western countries coming to Asia and later drugged them and killed them.
Know why the name ‘Bikini Killer’
Out of the people whom Sobhraj had killed, the bodies of 2 women were found only in bikini. Sobhraj had become infamous as ‘Bikini Killer’ and ‘The Serpent’ due to his cunning way of cheating people. Recalling the incident in 1986, Armando said that David Hall, a foreign national, was sitting at a table next to him and after some time Sobhraj came and sat beside him. David Hall was later identified as a drug trafficker.
‘Shobhraj accepted defeat without fighting’
Armando said, ‘We didn’t know what was going on. For a few moments I thought it was a film shoot. We realized the seriousness of the incident later. He told that Shobhraj and his accomplice had given up without a fight, but the police did not want to give any chance, so they started looking for a rope to tie him to the chair. He said, ‘I went to the kitchen with my friend and brought a rope, with which Sobhraj was tied. Later, the police took him in a car to Mapusa town, 6 km from Porvorim.