The story of Charles Sobhraj's dominance in Tihar Jail and then his escape from there

On May 8, 1981, Sunil Kumar Gupta, the spokesperson and legal advisor of Tihar Jail, reached the office of Jail Superintendent BL Vij with his appointment letter as ASP.
As soon as he got the job at Tihar, he resigned from his job at Northern Railway. He was only 24 years old at that time.
The Railways relieved him on May 7 and the very next day he reached Tihar Jail to join his new job.
Sunil Gupta recalls, "Jail Superintendent BL Vij took one look at me and said - there is no job of ASP here. I was stunned to hear this. I tried to tell him that I have the appointment letter in my hand. He instead told me that you should have asked him before leaving the railway job. I came out. Sitting outside, I was thinking what to do."
He says that during this time his eyes fell on a man wearing a coat and tie. Sunil Gupta did not know his name, but his personality was so impressive that he stood up as soon as he saw him.
Sunil Gupta further says, "He asked me in English the purpose of my visit there. I told him everything. He said, don't worry. I will help you. Saying this, he went inside Vij's office."
"After an hour, he came out with a letter in which it was written that I have been appointed ASP in Tihar. He handed it over to me and went away. I wanted to know who this influential person was. I asked a person about him. His answer was, this is Charles Sobhraj. Super IG of the jail. Everything here runs as per his wish."
Image caption,Sunil Kumar Gupta, author of the book Black Warrant
Theft in jewelry shop in Ashoka Hotel
Gurmukh Charles Sobhraj was born on April 6, 1944 in Saigon, Vietnam.
His mother was of Vietnamese descent, while his father was an Indian Sindhi. His father left Charles and his mother on their own.
David Morrisey writes in Sobhraj's biography 'The Bikini Killer', "After spending an unpleasant childhood, Charles met a woman from Paris, Chantal Compagnon. On the day he was to marry Chantal, he was arrested by the police on charges of driving a stolen car."
Charles was first arrested in India in Mumbai in 1971. In Delhi, he had stolen precious gems from the jewellery shop of Ashoka Hotel.
He committed this crime at the Ashoka Hotel, when the then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had come to India and was staying at the Ashoka Hotel.
Madhukar Zende, who arrested Charles, says, "Charles befriended a cabaret dancer there and told her that he wanted to marry her. He told the owner of the jewellery shop that he was the prince of Nepal. Send your gems to my room to show them. When her man came to the room with the gems, he mixed a drug in his coffee and made him unconscious."
"Then he ran away with all the diamonds. When the jeweler saw that his man had not returned for a long time, he came upstairs. There he saw that the room's door was locked. When the hotel room was opened with a duplicate key, the diamond shop owner was found unconscious there. Charles had accidentally forgotten his passport, on which the name Charles Sobhraj was written."
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Image caption,Henry Kissinger, then US Secretary of State
Shobhraj's empire in Tihar jail
Charles was soon arrested. But Delhi Police could not keep Charles in custody for long.
He pretended to have a stomach ache and escaped from Wellington Hospital by dodging the police.
Charles was finally arrested in 1976, when he drugged French tourists at Delhi's Vikram Hotel with the intention of stealing their passports.
His plan did not work and the French tourists regained consciousness just in time. Charles was arrested and brought to Tihar Jail in Delhi.
Tihar was one of the most notorious prisons in India. Charles Sobhraj soon built his empire in this prison.
Sunil Gupta recalls, "Charles was never kept in a cell. He was often seen sitting in the administrative office. My friends often told me about his exploits. They had no idea that I too had once benefited from him."
"He could go wherever he wanted. He treated the jail superintendent and his subordinates as his equals. He had a tape recorder in which he had taped the jail officers' requests for bribes."
Popularly known as 'Charles Sahib'
Sunil Gupta, while talking about Charles' prison, says, "Shobraj lived alone in a cell of 10 feet by 12 feet. He was given C class prisoners as servants in the jail, who used to massage him, wash his clothes and even cook his food."
"His cell had a shelf full of books. He was also given a bed, a table and a chair to sit on. His cell looked like a studio apartment. He would write petitions on behalf of prisoners and prison staff."
"The petitions written by him used to have more impact than the petitions written by real lawyers. If the prisoners needed money, Shobhraj would provide that to them as well. This was the reason why he considered himself a leader of both the prisoners and the jail staff."
Charles had so much influence in Tihar that people used to call him 'Charles Saheb'.
Image source,Getty Images
Image caption,In the Rakesh Kaushik case, the Delhi High Court, without naming Charles Sobhraj, had mentioned a foreign prisoner who was wanted by Interpol.
Instigation of jail superintendent
Indian Express had published a news in September 1981 that Charles Sobhraj's word is final in Tihar Jail.
In the same year, a report by the People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) said that Shobhraj and his friends had set up their bases inside the jail from where they carried out their operations.
"If anyone opposed them, Shobhraj and his friends would not even shy away from beating them. Among Shobhraj's friends were bank robbers Sunil Batra, Vipin Jaggi and Ravi Kapoor. All of them came from good families and were educated."
In the Rakesh Kaushik case, the Delhi High Court, without naming Charles Sobhraj, had mentioned a foreign prisoner who was wanted by Interpol.
The High Court observed, "This foreigner has the support of the Jail Superintendent and the Deputy Jail Superintendent. He can be seen meeting outsiders every day in the rooms adjacent to their office. The Deputy Superintendent also allows this prisoner to have sexual relations in his room."
"Obviously the jail superintendent and his subordinates charge a heavy price from this prisoner for providing such facilities. This foreign prisoner has become richer after the publication of his two books."
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Image caption,Charles Sobhraj with his daughter Muriel Anouk
Giani Zail Singh met Shobhraj in Tihar
At that time, Shirin Walker was Charles Sobhraj's girlfriend. He had invited her to India. Whenever she was in Delhi, she used to stay in a five star hotel here.
The PUCL report said that 'Shirin Walker met Charles Sobhraj for hours in the Superintendent of Police's room for six consecutive days.'
When the news about Shobhraj appeared in the Indian Express, the then Home Minister Giani Zail Singh suddenly decided to visit Tihar Jail late at night.
Sunil Gupta recalls, "On September 1, at 7.30 pm, a guard came running to inform me that the Home Minister had arrived. Should I let him in?"
"It may sound ridiculous today but it shows that it was drilled into every guard of Tihar Jail that no one should be allowed to enter the jail without the permission of the jail authorities. I was surprised to know that he had asked the Home Minister of India to wait outside."
He further says, "I ran to the gate. The Home Minister asked me to take him to Charles Sobhraj's cell. As soon as he met Sobhraj, he asked him in Hindi, how are you? Are you having any problem here? I translated it and told it to Sobhraj. Sobhraj replied in English that he was absolutely fine and he had no complaints."
Image source,Getty Images
Image caption, Giani Zail Singh, the then Home Minister of India, made a sudden visit to Tihar Jail late at night.
Suspension of Sunil Gupta
Sunil Gupta says, "When I took Gyaniji to the next ward, two prisoners there, Bhajji and Dina, suddenly started shouting 'Chacha Nehru Zindabad'."
"When Gyaniji's secretary took him aside, he told him, 'Everything is available here, drugs, alcohol and whatever one wants.' The next day, the newspaper reported that the inmates showed an empty liquor bottle to the minister's secretary to show how easy it was to get it here."
"Two days after this incident, the Home Ministry suspended six officials of Tihar Jail. I was one of them. When I protested that I was not responsible for those prisoners appearing before the minister, I was reinstated to my job after one and a half months."
During Sunil Gupta's suspension, Charles Sobhraj remained in constant touch with him. He also offered him financial help, which Gupta did not accept.
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Image caption, On the day Charles Sobhraj escaped from Tihar Jail, 12 out of 900 prisoners also escaped.
Escaped from Tihar jail
On Sunday, March 16, 1986, Charles Sobhraj escaped from Tihar Jail by dodging all the security personnel of the jail.
Constable Anand Prakash was the first to raise an alarm about this. When he reached the quarters near the jail, he had covered his face with a thick cloth. When he rang the bell of the Deputy Superintendent's office, no words came out of his mouth.
Only these words came out of his mouth – run, immediately.
Later, Assistant Sub Inspector VD Pushkarna of Jail Number Three said, "All the gates of the jail were open. The entire jail staff, including the gatekeeper, security staff and even duty officer Shivraj Yadav were either sleeping or standing stunned. The keys of the jail gate were not in their designated place."
Tamil Nadu police personnel were deployed in Tihar jail so that they do not mingle with North Indian criminals. But they too were lying unconscious.
Out of 900 prisoners in Tihar Jail, 12 prisoners escaped from the jail that day.
Drugs in sweets
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Image caption, Abducted a constable from Tihar Jail and escaped
Sunil Gupta recalls, "That day I was watching a movie on Doordarshan at home. Then Doordarshan stopped the movie and announced that Charles Sobhraj had escaped from Tihar Jail. I immediately reached the jail. The noteworthy thing was that every unconscious soldier had a 50 rupee note stuck in his hand."
"This led to the assumption that on the pretext of celebrating his birthday, Shobhraj first lured the constables with Rs 50 and then fed them sweets laced with drugs."
According to Sunil Gupta, 'Delhi's Deputy Police Commissioner Ajay Agarwal told reporters that two people had come to Tihar Jail and requested to distribute fruits and sweets among the prisoners to celebrate the birthday of a prisoner. When warden Shivraj Yadav gave permission, he fed sweets laced with medicine to Yadav and five other guards. All of them fell unconscious after eating the sweets and regained consciousness only after a few hours.'
He further says, "On investigation, it was found that a British citizen David Hall was released from Tihar a few days ago. He was arrested on charges of drug trafficking. He had become friends with Shobhraj because Shobhraj had helped him in writing his bail petition."
"Checking the records revealed that Hall had met Shobhraj before he fled and had handed him a packet. Hall got bail for just Rs 12,000. Ordinary criminals return home after getting bail, but Hall returned to Tihar and helped Shobhraj escape."
"A car was waiting for Shobhraj outside Tihar Jail. He had also kidnapped a Tihar Jail constable and taken him along with him so that the Tamil Nadu Police personnel posted there would think that Shobhraj was going out of the jail with the consent of the police."
Arrested in Goa
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Image caption, Shobhraj could stay outside Tihar Jail for only 23 days
According to a report, Shobhraj had used 820 tablets of 'Larpos' (sleeping tablets) to mix in sweets.
After the incident, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor HKL Kapoor and Police Commissioner Ved Marwah visited Tihar Jail and ordered the arrest of VD Pushkarna and five other officers.
But Shobhraj could stay outside Tihar Jail for only 23 days. He was arrested by Bombay Police Inspector Madhukar Zende from a restaurant in Goa.
They got a clue from the telephone exchange that Shobhraj might come to the Okokera restaurant there.
Zende recalls, "On the night of April 6, at 10:30 pm, the India-Pakistan hockey match was on TV. The hotel had a large courtyard. There was an inner room inside. We were sitting in the inner room."
"I saw two men get out of a taxi outside the gate. They were wearing sun hats. I wondered why they were wearing sun hats at such a late hour. When he came forward, I saw that he looked like Charles Sobhraj. His friend Devil Hall was also with him. My heart started pounding when I saw him."
Zende further explains, "I suddenly got up from my place and grabbed his stomach from behind and shouted, 'Charles.' He replied, 'Who Charles?' I said, 'You are bloody Charles Sobhraj.' He said, 'Are you crazy?' I said, 'I am the same Zende who caught you in 71.' After saying this, he lost his courage."
"We did not take any handcuffs with us. We asked the hotel owner to provide us with whatever rope he had. We tied him with the rope and called the commissioner to inform him that we had caught Charles."
Shobhraj was kept in handcuffs and shackles
Delhi Police Deputy Commissioner Amod Kanth took Shobhraj's custody from Zende and brought him to Delhi in a special plane.
The escape resulted in an extension of Sobhraj's prison sentence and prevented his extradition to Thailand, where he would have faced a guaranteed death sentence for the murders.
After returning to Tihar Jail, all his freedom was taken away.
He was isolated from other prisoners and kept in handcuffs and shackles and was prohibited from going anywhere without a security guard. But he continued to meet outsiders while going to court.
India Today wrote in its September 1986 issue, "Charles wants to spend as much time as possible in court so that he can be freed from the shackles. He demands to be allowed to eat food of his choice during judicial custody in court, meet his lawyer Sneh Sengar and see the files related to his case, which he is granted."
"Then his attention goes towards the chicken biryani brought for him in a polythene bag. Then he asks a person to bring Limca for him."
Despite such tight security in the jail, a small quantity of hashish was recovered from him. It was brought between two slices of bread. For this, two constables were first suspended and later fired from their jobs.
Image source,Getty Images
Image caption, Kiran Bedi had attached Charles to the legal cell of Tihar Jail.
Kiran Bedi was transferred because of Shobhraj
Sunil Gupta says that Charles Sobhraj was the reason for the transfer of Tihar Jail IG Kiran Bedi.
Kiran Bedi attached him to the legal cell of Tihar Jail. He was given a typewriter to type the petitions of the prisoners.
There was nothing illegal in this. However, the reason given for the transfer was that the typewriter was a luxury item and Shobhraj was glorifying his exploits by writing books with its help.
Saying this, Magsaysay Award winner Kiran Bedi was transferred to another place.
Image source,Getty Images
Image caption,The reason for Kiran Bedi's transfer was said to be the provision of a typewriter
He also spent 19 years in Nepal jail
After spending 20 years in Tihar Jail, Charles Sobhraj was released from Tihar Jail on February 17, 1997.
His age at that time was 53 years.
But his troubles did not end there. He was arrested again in Nepal six years later in 2003.
On December 21, 2022, the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered his release.
From there he was sent to France, where he still lives.
Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from BBCNews.