Nepal probes another murder charge against Charles Sobhraj (bikini killer, serpent)

Already serving a life term in Kathmandu's most tightly guarded prison for the murder of an American backpacker in 1975, yesteryear's crime maestro Charles Sobhraj now faces the possibility of Nepal Police charging him with the murder of a Canadian male the same year.

Nepal's attorney-general Dr Yubaraj Sangroula said his office had been approached by a Nepali Good Samaritan with the claim that during his nearly two decades in crimes committed in a string of countries across the world, Sobhraj has left a confession admitting he killed Canadian tourist Laurent Armand Carriere in Kathmandu valley in 1975.

"We have been informed that Sobhraj made such a confession either to police in Malaysia or Thailand and the informer has said he would take the responsibility of providing us with the confession," according to Sangroula, who says "If he does, the second murder case can be re-opened. We are looking into the matter now."

The past seems to be chasing the 67-year-old Sobhraj with vengeance at a time he had been congratulating himself on having left the hot pursuits and the convictions far behind him. The first blow came in 2003 when he arrived in Kathmandu on a stealthy mission and was arrested by police who charged him with the murder of American tourist Connie Jo Bronzich in December 1975.

Around the same time in 1975, a second body was found in Bhaktapur and the murder mode was the same. Both the victims had been stabbed and the bodies burnt to elude identification. While the American was identified as Bronzich, doubts however remain about the second body. At one point in their investigations, Nepal Police had said Bronzich was murdered by Carriere, with whom she shared a flea hotel room in Kathmandu, resulting in the Canadian fleeing Nepal.

However, later they claimed the second body was Carriere's and pinned both the murders on Sobhraj. While the Frenchman was convicted of killing Bronzich, the Carriere case however was not re-opened as police could not find the old case file.

Curiously, despite the absence of evidence or witnesses, Sobhraj was convicted on the basis of a "confession" Nepal Police claim he made to the Indian Police in the 1970s, saying he was in Nepal. Sobhraj has contested that, saying the "confession" was a fake conjured up by Nepal Police. For one, it does not carry the obligatory signature of the magistrate recording the confession and his seal. For another, it was not obtained from the Indian authorities but sent by a third party from New Zealand.

Now the possible appearance of a second confession has added a new twist to the eight-year battle between Sobhraj and the authorities in Nepal. Sobhraj suspects it's the same man who so obligingly provided police with the first "confession" as he could be released in near future.

However, the jailer of the Central Jail, where Sobhraj is doing time, scoffs at his freedom dreams. Tirtharaj Bhattarai says there is no way Sobhraj will have his 20-year jail term remitted for good behaviour.

... ... ... nepalawaz