The release of the ‘The Serpent’ through the 8-part Netflix drama series on 2 April, 2021 led my thoughts to 2003 when Charles Sobhraj was arrested in Kathmandu and I had been posted there.
Out of curiosity, I went to the Internet Movie Database web site (imdb.com) to check out the review and whether the circumstances that led to his arrest had been mentioned. Were there characters called Joseph Nathan or S Ramesh in the series? No.
But here is how the arrest of this infamous serial killer happened.
Charles Sobhraj in Nepal on the Eve of His Arrest
Sobhraj had arrived in Kathmandu on 1 September, 2003 and booked himself into a Thamel hotel. It is ironical he opted to stay in downtown Kathmandu as Thamel was the one place the hippies would congregate in 1975. Just off Thamel was the famous ‘Freak Street’, known for its hashish cafés.
Though my memory is a bit hazy now with passing time, I recall that Sobhraj was meeting people and talking to them about either the Pashmina export business or investing in a mineral water plant in the Himalayas in the day.
A compulsive gambler, Sobhraj spent evenings visiting the various casinos in Kathmandu to play baccarat, mostly, and occasionally blackjack.
Joseph Nathan (Joey), Adviser of ‘The Himalayan Times’ (THT), an experienced journalist who was running a newspaper, had also found a new hobby in playing blackjack at the casinos. Possibly, it was on one such balmy September evening and soon after Sobhraj’s arrival that Joey found himself at the very James Bond sounding Casino Royale of the Hotel Yak & Yeti in central Kathmandu.
A Balding Gentleman in a Kathmandu Casino
Joey’s curiosity was kindled when he spotted an elderly balding gentleman at the casino that vaguely resembled Sobhraj but not quite fitting the well known image of a bespectacled beret wearing person.
Yet, Joey decided to follow his journalist instincts as he was quite certain that the person was Sobhraj. He requested the guest relations manager to cater to Sobhraj’s needs to their best capacity so he wouldn’t check-out. At the same time, he constituted a small team of his newspaper colleagues to follow Sobhraj around and even take photographs of him in Thamel as part of gathering evidence.