CNN —
Charles Sobhraj, the notorious French serial killer who inspired the award-winning TV series The Serpent, was released from a Nepalese prison on Friday.
“Sobhraj was released from prison. He was handed over to the immigration authorities. Immigration officials informed us earlier today that he will soon be deported to France,” Ishwari Prasad Pandey, an official at the Nepal Central Prison, told CNN.
Sobhraj, 78, was serving a life sentence in Nepal for killing two tourists in 1975, but many of his alleged murders remain unsolved.
He was released after Nepal’s top court on Wednesday ordered his release due to his age and health. He has heart disease and will need open-heart surgery, the court said.
Local officials said they are arranging Sobhraj’s immediate deportation, which could take place as early as Friday.
“We are working to collect all the necessary travel documents to deport Sobhraj to France,” Acting Director-General of the Nepal Immigration Service Pradarshani Kumari told CNN, adding that “it could happen today (Friday), it could happen a few days.” last. ”
“The order of the court is to send him to his home country within 15 days. We are working to deport him with that time frame in mind. He will remain under the supervision of the Nepalese government until he leaves. We are working with the Home Office on his safety,” added Kumari.
The official said the department is in close contact with the French embassy in Kathmandu.
Born under French administration in Saigon, Vietnam, Sobhraj was jailed in Paris for burglary in 1963 but was later accused of crimes in a number of countries: France, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Thailand and Malaysia.
He also escaped from prisons in several countries, and his penchant for evading authorities earned him the nickname “The Serpent.”
Sobhraj eventually admitted to at least 12 murders between 1972 and 1976, and hinted at others to interviewers before recanting the confessions before further trials, according to his biographers. His true number of victims is unknown.
In 2014, a Nepalese court sentenced Sobhraj to 20 years in prison for the 1975 murder of Canadian tourist Laurent Carrière.
The 2021 BBC/Netflix drama The Serpent is based on the story of Sobhraj’s alleged murders. It tells how he evaded the law across Asia for years by allegedly drugging, robbing and murdering backpackers along the so-called ‘hippie trail’ – while former Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg was collaborating with authorities to get him catch.