But it was on his supposed role in trying to secure the release of the hijacked passengers of IC-814 that Sobhraj was most forthcoming. All of which meant that in 1997 he returned to Paris, where I went to interview him for the Observer. 'He finds himself not famous, whereas in prison he's a somebody' "I'm almost 70," he said. In September 2003 Sobhraj came to the Casino Royale every night for two weeks to play blackjack. "I risked my life for the war on terror," he protested, a little improbably, claiming that the CIA abandoned him when he was arrested. Now that the master of guile is set to take his flight to freedom at age 78, the world may finally get to hear from the man himself the chronicles, claims and conspiracy theories that make up Charles Sobhraj. Richard speedily learned the arts of bribery and corruption and arranged regular access to . 'He can't deal with the outside world,' says the documentary maker and writer Farrukh Dhondy. On release, he was due to be extradited to Thailand, where he faced the death penalty for several murders. "That's when she cut my money off," complained Sobhraj, shaking his head. Complaining that he had paid all the necessary bribes, Sobhraj still insisted he was about to be released any day. Sobhraj's other main partner in crime was Ajay Chowdhury, an Indian man with whom he carried out the most brutal murders. But Sobhraj was not political. I wont have any problem with finance. Now you can ask your questions.. I met Hooda last October and I like him as a person. And such was the richly implausible nature of his exploits that Sobhraj generated his own impressive literary testaments. Recently, I filed a petition in the Supreme Court (of Nepal) praying that the court intervene. Charles Sobhraj is bundled into a police van in Delhi in 1997, shortly after his release from jail. His father was a successful Indian tailor and his mother was his father's mistress, a local Vietnamese woman. "'This is Charles Sobhraj,'" said Dhondy with pitch-perfect mimicry. The Taliban needed to sell heroin to buy arms and Sobhraj had contacts with the Triads, who were keen to buy heroin, so he offered to represent the Taliban in a meeting in Nepal. "It's an incredible story. How are your finances? OK, he said. "They couldn't help me because I was undercover.". He was relying on Dhondy to put his case. The Serpent - Where Charles Sobhraj and Marie are now He talked of making money from his story, whose financial worth he lavishly -overvalued, and he also mentioned ambitions in film. He told me he thought that they were killed because they rejected his criminal entreaties. "I said, 'You're the serial killer.' The crazy thing is he did have contacts in the Taliban, through a former Islamist cellmate in Delhi, and he probably knew Chinese gangsters from his time flitting about in Hong Kong. How will you survive financially after getting freedom? He met her when he was 24 and fresh out of prison in Paris. A martial-arts fanatic, he seemed to be physically, psychologically and philosophically armed with everything required to dominate others. Apparently he hung out every night for a couple of weeks at a casino, as if he wanted to be noticed. "It was a good enough story to bring Boris to my house so it must have been tasty," recalled Oborne. Not only did he know that Sobhraj was guilty, he said, the case was a matter of personal catharsis. If Sobhraj has a deep craving for liberty, he also appears to possess an unhealthy appetite for incarceration, having spent more than 35 years in prison. The notorious murderer who preyed on 70s backpackers is the subject of a new BBC drama. Several times when different police forces had him within their grasp, he coolly assumed the identity of another person - usually one of his victims - and talked his way out. Viewed from a political perspective, it was a story of the times, a symbolic tale of colonial backlash, an uprooted war child fighting against an oppressive and uncaring system. Serial killer The Serpent, Charles Sobhraj, deported from Nepal The only certainty is that the Serpent will not slip away to a quiet retirement in the French countryside. Serial Killer Charles Sobhraj Tells AFP 'I Am Innocent' I didnt commit any offence in Nepal so I didnt apprehend any problems. "I'm looking for a literary agent," he told me. Like Patricia Highsmiths Tom Ripley, he assumed different identities, using stolen passports and creating a trail of havoc wherever he went.