‘Bikini killer’ Sobhraj arrestedBIKASH SANGRAULA [Kathmandu Post]
Kathmandu, Sept 19 - A team of police officers headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Deg Bahadur GC arrested the notorious criminal Charles Sobhraj on immigration charges today. He was arrested this morning at four from the Casino Royale at Durbar Marg. He was staying in Room No 203 of Garden Hotel in Sohrakhutte.
Sobhraj, 59, formerly a top name featuring in the ‘Most Wanted List’ in many countries around the globe, came to Nepal in 1975 with Dutch Passport #S428929 bearing the name of Bintanja Henricus. On September 1, 2003, he arrived in Kathmandu from Dubai with French Passport #02Y18667 under the name of Charles Sobhraj Gurmukh.”He has been arrested for arriving in Nepal on two separate occasions with two different passports,” Deputy Inspector General of Police Keshav Baral said, adding, “He was arrested under the Immigration Law, and was presented to the immigration department today. He could also be tried for the murders of two foreigners in 1975.”
Sobhraj is believed to have committed the murders of Laurant Armant Carierr of Canada on December 21, 1975 and that of Conijo Broniz of the United States on December 23, 1975. Residing then at the Soaltee Hotel, Sobhraj managed to flee Nepal under a fake identity. In 1976, the murder cases were filed at the Kathmandu District Court. Ever since, Nepal Police has had been looking for the ‘bikini killer’.However, convicting him for the murders could be an uphill task as the court documents are missing.
“The ultimate purpose of the arrests is to try him for the 1975 murders,” Superintendent of Police Binod Singh of Valley Crime Investigation Branch, Hanuman Dhoka told The Kathmandu Post today.
Similarly, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ganesh KC, chief investigation officer of the case, said that Sobhraj would be presented at the court for hearings on the 1975 killings. However, police officials failed to find the records of the case at the District Court of Kathmandu despite intensive search today.
Government advocate Dron Raj Regmi of the Attorney General’s Office said that in case of being convicted by the court for murder, a criminal could be apprehended regardless of the number of years that elapse since the court’s verdict.”For suspected involvement in murder, the suspect can be apprehended only within two years of the murder. For cases of evidence-backed allegations, the alleged murderer can be held anytime within twenty years. However, if convicted by the court for murder, there is no such time boundary,” Regmi said.
Sobhraj’s case belongs to the third category, according to DIG Baral. “He was convicted by the court. He will have to face it,” said Baral.However, Sobhraj has denied having come to Nepal before. “In the preliminary interrogations, he said that this was the first time he had come to Nepal,” DSP K.C said. Sobhraj has further claimed that he was here on a business-cum-pleasure trip.
Ever since his release from Tihar Jail of India in 1997, Sobhraj had been leading an apparently clean and quiet life in Paris. K C, however, expressed ignorance as to the charges Sobhraj would be tried for.
“We are yet to consult legal experts as to whether Sobhraj can be tried, and on what charges,” said KC.