Kozhikode: He was handsome—of medium height, solidly built, with eyes that combined charm, cunning and ferocity. He spoke several languages with ease, including English and French. Most of the passports found in his possession belonged to unfortunate victims he had murdered. Killing those he targeted, disposing of their bodies and burning the evidence caused him no hesitation whatsoever.

The man, named Hotchand Bhawnani Gurumukh Sobhraj, was also known by chilling aliases such as the ‘The Serpent’ and the ‘Bikini Killer’.

There is only one police officer in the world who tracked down and arrested the infamous Charles Sobhraj twice. That officer is Madhukar Zende, who served in the Mumbai Police for more than three and a half decades. Zende will arrive at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL) 2026 to recount the gripping story of Sobhraj’s capture.

Zende was first assigned to hunt down Sobhraj after he escaped dramatically following a jewellery theft from the Ashoka Hotel in Delhi. After keeping him under close surveillance, Zende and his team lay in wait on November 11, 1971 at La Patisserie, a cake shop inside Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

After some time, a man dressed in a white suit arrived. As he stepped forward to light a cigarette, Zende grabbed him from behind. Without uttering a word and offering no resistance, Sobhraj surrendered.

In 1977, when Sobhraj was again arrested on multiple charges and produced in court, Zende was summoned as well. Sitting beside the notorious Bikini Killer, Zende asked him, “Charles, I am Inspector Zende of the Mumbai Police. I was the one who arrested you in 1971. Why did you do all this?”

Sobhraj looked at Zende for a moment and replied, “Just do your job.”

Turning Tihar Jail into a place of indulgence, Sobhraj once drugged prison officials during a birthday party and escaped, sending shockwaves around the world once again.

Zende was once more entrusted with the task of capturing him. Acting on intelligence that Sobhraj was in Goa, Zende and his team travelled there—this time under an assumed identity. Madhukar Zende became Shashi Rout.

Days of waiting and surveillance followed. Eventually, information emerged about international phone calls being made from Goa. At the time, only the bar at the O’ Coqueiro hotel in Porvorim had such a facility.

At last, on a Sunday evening at around 8 pm—amid the noise of wedding celebrations and a televised India–Pakistan hockey match—Sobhraj arrived at the bar with a friend. Sitting on chairs along the verandah, they ordered drinks. Once again, Zende seized him from behind, holding him tightly and pressing a gun into his back.

“Hello Charles, how are you?” Zende asked.

Sobhraj tried to struggle, but as the gun barrel pressed harder, he calmed down and replied, “Who is Charles? Nonsense.”

“No acting, Charles,” Zende said. “I am the same Zende who arrested you in 1971. I know you are bloody Charles Sobhraj.”

The Serpent, Charles Sobhraj, finally coiled in submission. The next day, the morning newspaper headline read simply, "ZENDEBAD".

From the Prime Minister to Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, many invited Zende and his team to their homes to hear the electrifying story first-hand. The same story can now be heard at the MBIFL. Registration is open for the festival which is scheduled from January 29 to February 1, 2026, at the Kanakakkunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram.

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