The life and times of notorious serial killer are being revisited in a drama that highlights his modus operandi as he went about murdering 24 travelers across Thailand, Nepal and India. Charles Sobhraj was arrested at O Coqueiro Goa. It was then a popular hippie hangout especially since it had a phone from where STD calls could be made. The webseries drama called “The Serpent” features Inspector Madhukar Zende who recently spoke to The Daily Mail reminiscing about the time he apprehended Charles in Goa. The former police inspector has recalled the dramatic moment he looked notorious serial killer Charles Sobhraj in the eyes and uttered: ‘Hello Charles. How are you?’ According to the report, “Sobhraj is believed to have killed up to 24 travellers, the majority of them in Thailand, Nepal and India after initially poisoning them and then mutilating their bodies so that they could not be recognised. The criminal is played by French actor Tahar Rahim, 39, and his partner and accomplice Marie-Andree Leclerc by Jenna Coleman, 34. Nicknamed ‘The Serpent’ because he always managed to evade capture, Sobhraj was finally pinned down in April 1986 in Goa, following a nationwide manhunt by police in India that was led by Inspector Madhukar Zende. Mr Zende had been ordered to track Sobhraj down after he escaped from India’s top security Tihar jail, where he was serving a 12-year sentence for poisoning a group of French tourists in 1976 and robbing them. He was chosen for the job of tracking down one of the world’s most wanted men at the time as he had also arrested him once before in 1971, came close twice more a few years later and was considered to be one of the few policemen to have an understanding of how Sobhraj operated. Mr Zende, 83 told MailOnline: ‘We spent days looking for him all over Goa but at night I would go to the O’Coquerio restaurant, a popular hippie hangout. I was convinced that if I sat there long enough, he would eventually appear because Charles loved being around hippies, drink and women. I was posing as a tourist and would sit at a table, ordering food and drinks just pretending that I was on holiday.’ Recalling the dramatic moment of Sobhraj’s arrest, Mr Zende said: ‘It was 10.30pm and I noticed that a car had pulled up and two men got out. What made me suspicious was that it was late at night, but they were both wearing sun hats. They sat at a table and were drinking beer and I recognised one of them as Sobhraj even though he had a beard and looked very different from the last time I saw him. It was his chilling, piercing eyes that convinced me it was him. I got so excited that I was trembling, but I managed to compose myself and slowly walked up to him, grabbed him from behind, turned him around and said: ‘Hello Charles. How are you?’ Mr Zende recalled that after reminding him that he was the same policeman who arrested him in 1971, he then tied Sobhrja’s hands with a rope which he asked a waiter to get for him as he did not have any handcuffs. He added: ‘Sobhraj came quietly. We put him in the back of a jeep, and I ordered him to lie down and told two constables to sit on him for the entire 11-hour journey back to Mumbai because I was so worried that he would escape.’ Prior to fleeing from Tihar jail and hiding in Goa, Sobhraj lived a life of luxury behind bars, enjoying gourmet food, fine wine and visits from a string of women for sex. ‘The current television drama about him has brought back a lot of memories for me and it’s been a long time since I’ve thought about Sobhraj. He is not the biggest villain I have ever captured but he is certainly the most cunning and the most famous.’, said Zende now in his eighties. Two years ago, Mr Zende visited O’Coquerio restaurant for the first time since the arrest and a party was held in his honour. Sobhraj, is now 76 and is serving his sentence in Kathmandu but has maintained his notoriety even behind bars after marrying 24-year-old Nihita Biswas, the daughter of his lawyer who is famous for her appearance on India’s equivalent to Big Brother.