A former Nepalese police officer who was instrumental in the high-profile arrest of the notorious French serial killer Charles Sobhraj in 2003 on Thursday said it was the painful childhood memory of the sight of a half-burnt body of a slain American woman in a river here that spurred him to become a detective.
Ganesh KC was 40 and the Deputy Police Superintendent in 2003 when he nabbed Sobhraj from a casino in Kathmandu.
Nepal's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of Sobhraj, 78, a Frenchman of Indian and Vietnamese parentage, who has been in jail here for close to two decades on murder charges.
For Ganesh, it was the painful childhood memory of the sight of a half-burnt body of American tourist Connie Jo Bronzich that encouraged him to become a seasoned and hardened detective.
"I was barely 12 when I saw people rushing near the Manahara river in Kathmandu to get a glimpse of the dead body of Connie Jo Bronzich, the American backpacker who was killed by Sobhraj,” he told PTI.
Bronzich and Canadian friend Laurent Carriere were the two backpackers killed by Sobhraj in 1976.
It was only ironic that 27 years later, Ganesh would be entrusted with the task of hunting down the serial killer.
Ganesh recounted with glee the chain of events that lead to Sobhraj's sensational arrest.
"He (Sobhraj) landed in Kathmandu on the pretext of filming a documentary. He was spotted near Royale Casino in Durbarmarg and The Himalayan Times newspaper published his photograph. The photograph got Kathmandu Metropolitan Police to launch a manhunt,” he recollected.
Although there was no concrete evidence to nail Sobhraj in the twin murder case, the police first arrested him on charges of violating the immigration law, then charged him with the murders on the basis of circumstantial evidence, including his signature in the hotel registry, Ganesh said.
"We are proud to have arrested Sobhraj nearly three decades after the murder of the backpackers,” Ganesh said.
"His arrest in Nepal shows the country's robust criminal judicial system,” he added.
There were two cases registered against him — one in Kathmandu District Court and another in Bhaktapur District Court — for the murder of the two backpackers in two different areas in two days.
