Authorities clamp down on Sobhraj fearing 'tricks' to escape

Shirish B. Pradhan

Kathmandu, Nov 1 (PTI) Authorities in Kathmandu's
central jail have clamped down on visitors wanting to meet
celebrity criminal Charles Gurmukh Sobhraj, fearing that the
claim of his marriage to Nepali beauty Nihita Bishwas may be a
"trick" to escape from custody.

Nicknamed the "Bikini killer" and "Serpent",
64-year-old Sobhraj has been accused of luring young women and
killing many of them. The celebrity criminal was arrested from
a Kathmandu casino in September 2003 and has been sentenced to
life imprisonment by a District Court in July 2004 on charges
of murdering an American tourist in Kathmandu in 1975.

"We did not allow Nihita and other visitors, barring
his lawyers, to meet Sobhraj as he may be playing tricks to
escape from the jail by pretending to marry the girl," a staff
at the capital's Central Jail told P.T.I. on condition of
anonymity.

With authorities having tightened security for the
"serial killer", the 20-year-old Bishwas, who claims to have
married Sobhraj, was not allowed to meet her lover after the
Dussehra holidays.

Nobody, including journalists and Nihita, was allowed
to meet him since the news of their marriage was splashed in
the media, he said.

However, Shakuntala Bishwas, who is Sobhraj's lawyer
and also the mother of Nihita, has been allowed to meet the
criminal, the jail staff stressed.

Shakuntala went to the jail to meet Sobhraj in a
government vehicle last week, raising suspicion of
government's sympathy for Sobhraj in the three-decade old
murder case. A private television earlier showed Shakuntala
visiting the jail in a government vehicle.

Sobhraj claims that he was put in jail without any
evidence and believes that he will be released, with the
Supreme Court set for a key hearing on his appeal on Sunday.

The hearing, which was earlier scheduled to take place
immediately after Vijaya Dashami holidays, was postponed due
to the absence of one of the judges.

Sobhraj, who claims to be writing a book on his life,
spends his time mostly watching television and reading books,
the jail staff said.

He prefers bread, noodle and cakes against the other
Nepalese jailbirds who eat rice, dal and curry. Sobhraj gets
700 grams of low quality rice and Rs 45 as daily allowance for
food like other prisoners, which is normally sufficient for
having two meals a day, according to jail administration.

The jail staff are apprehensive of talking to the
media about the celebrity criminal as it may lead to fresh
controversy. A Nepali police inspector was suspended for
helping Sobhraj in obtaining a mobile inside the jail two
years back.

Jail authorities have been quick to deny media reports
quoting Sobhraj's American friend David Woodard recently that
the "Bikini killer" had taken red wine, French and Italian
dishes inside the jail. They also deny Sobhraj's claim that he
had divorced his French wife before marrying Nihita.

"Sobharaj's French wife arranges money for him and
sends lawyers to defend him. Why would she do that for him if
they were really divorced?" a jail staff asked. PTI SBP
PMR