For decades, Charles Sobhraj—nicknamed “The Serpent” for his ability to slip away from authorities—was one of the most feared criminals in Asia. Born in 1944 in Saigon, then part of French-administered Vietnam (today Ho Chi Minh City), he was first arrested in Paris in 1963 for theft. Over the ensuing years, he accumulated criminal charges across several countries, including France, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Thailand, and Malaysia, and escaped from prisons in several of them.
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Best known by another nickname, the “Bikini Killer,” for his tendency to target women, Sobhraj drugged, robbed, and murdered Western tourists traveling along the so-called Hippie Trail in Asia during the 1970s. He was linked to more than 20 murders in India, Nepal, and Thailand throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but was formally convicted of only three. The true number of his victims remains unknown.
Netflix’s new film Inspector Zende dramatizes the relentless pursuit of Charles Sobhraj by Madhukar Zende, one of India’s most renowned police officers. Set in the 1970s and 1980s, the drama covers both of Zende’s captures of Sobhraj. It’s a new take on the killer, a few years after the streamer debuted the series The Serpent, which starred Tahar Rahim as the notorious criminal. In the film, Sobhraj is reimagined as Carl Bhojraj—in this iteration dubbed “the Swimsuit Killer”—played by Jim Sarbh, while Manoj Bajpayee takes on the role of the inspector who captured him twice.
Here’s what to know about the real story behind Inspector Zende, premiering Sept. 5.
Charles Sobhraj’s first arrest in India
In 1971, Madhukar Zende, then a police officer at the Gamdevi police station in Mumbai, received a tip from a thief named Ajay Parekh, who warned about a robbery planned by Charles Sobhraj and his team at the New India Assurance building, a site with heavy cash movement in the city.
Zende and his colleagues carefully prepared for the operation. They tracked Sobhraj to the Taj Mahal Palace, where he arrived elegantly dressed in a suit, not expecting to be recognized. He was not acting alone—Sobhraj had gathered around five accomplices for the robbery, who stayed in nearby hotels while he remained at the Taj. During the raid, police recovered hotel receipts tied to his associates, arrested them, and seized rifles and revolvers intended for the heist.
Later that year, while hospitalized for an alleged appendicitis, Sobhraj took advantage of a blackout caused by the Indo-Pakistani war to escape, slipping out through the drainage pipes.
Luxury behind bars and a new escape
In 1976, Sobhraj was arrested again in India for murder, in this case not a female victim but a male French tourist named Jean-Luc Solomon. He was sentenced to 12 years in Tihar Jail in Delhi. During his time behind bars, he became notorious for the luxurious lifestyle he maintained, bribing guards and creating a comfortable routine within the prison.
However, in 1986, Sobhraj threw a party inside the jail, secretly lacing the guards’ sweets with sleeping pills to render them unconscious. Taking advantage of the chaos, he slipped away in a car driven by a trusted associate, successfully evading capture. It is believed that he chose to escape near the end of his sentence in India not simply to flee, but so that if he were caught again, he could face new charges in India and avoid extradition to Thailand, where he risked the death penalty.
The capture in Goa
Given his previous experience with the criminal, Zende was assigned to lead the operation to recapture him. With a small team, he began tracking Sobhraj’s movements in Goa following two crucial leads: a hotel owner in Mumbai, who had been observing Sobhraj and noticed him using bicycles with plates that didn’t match official registrations, reported the information to the police; meanwhile, local telephone exchanges indicated that the fugitive might frequent the restaurant O’Coqueiro, a common spot for foreign tourists who used the restaurant’s phone for international calls.
Disguised as a tourist, Zende spent days observing the restaurant. On the night of April 6, 1986, he finally spotted Sobhraj arriving, disguised with a hat. Zende approached calmly and said, “Hello, Charles. How are you?” The fugitive attempted to draw a weapon but was quickly overpowered by Zende’s team.
The capture in Goa is considered by many to be the most strategic operation of Zende’s career, solidifying his reputation as one of India’s most skilled police officers.
Final imprisonment
After his release from India in 1997, Sobhraj returned to Paris—his sentence had been extended by around 10 years after being recaptured following his 1986 escape. Convinced he could evade authorities once again, he traveled to Nepal in 2003. There, he was arrested in the tourist district of Kathmandu and, the following year, sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1975 murder of American tourist Connie Jo Bronzich. Ten years later, he received another conviction for the murder of her companion, Canadian Laurent Carrière.
During his years in the Nepali prison, he met lawyer Nihita Biswas in 2008 and later married her. Sobhraj spent nearly 20 years incarcerated in Nepal before being released in 2022, at the age of 78, due to his advanced age and health issues. With a history of heart complications and the need for surgery, he benefited from a Nepali law that allows bedridden prisoners who have served three-quarters of their sentence to be released.
Where Sobhraj and Zende are today
After being released from prison in Nepal, Sobhraj returned once again to France, where he now lives as a free man at the age of 81. Despite murder charges in Thailand and an outstanding arrest warrant, he has never been extradited to face those accusations.
Madhukar Zende, now 88 and retired, remains lauded as a historic figure in the Mumbai police force. After capturing Sobhraj twice, he gained national recognition and met notable figures such as Rajiv Gandhi—the Indian politician who served as prime minister from 1984 to 1989—and Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar, one of the most beloved figures in Indian cinema.
In a recent interview on The Awaara Musaafir Show, hosted by Jayesh Gangan, Zende recounted in detail the capture of Charles Sobhraj. Known for his sharp mind and fearless investigative work, he revisited not only the manhunt that made him famous but also the behind-the-scenes challenges of police work in the 1970s, including the difficulties of tracking an international criminal in an era without modern surveillance technology. He also highlighted the patient investigative process, the risks involved in the operation, and the unforgettable moment when he finally arrested Sobhraj in Goa.