21 September,2025 10:45 AM IST | Mumbai | Tanisha Banerjee
Madhukar Zende
When "Bikini Killer" Charles Sobhraj was caught in a Goa restaurant in the 1980s, it propelled a Mumbai policeman's name to the headlines and into the lasting consciousness of the public.
Now it's Madhukar Zende's turn to relate the story of his crime-fighting career in the Mumbai Police, which spanned far more than the "Hello Charles" for which he became famous.
Zende is the man of the moment, with a new memoir out, Mumbai's Most Wanted, published by HarperCollins India. His story is also at the centre of a new Netflix film, Inspector Zende, starring Manoj Bajpayee and Jim Sarbh.
The famous Sobhraj case has already been the subject of four biographies, three documentaries, a Bollywood film titled Main Aur Charles, a 2021 eight-part BBC/Netflix drama series The Serpent, and was included in a 2025 Netflix series, Black Warrant.
Speaking to Zende is a breath of fresh air as he talks about how much he cherishes his time as a policeman. "Mumbai Police is compared to Scotland Yard but with the way we function, I won't hesitate to say we are even better than them! I always tell everyone that the police is there for the service of the public and it can only be accomplished when you have the support of the public."
A man full of adventures in his repertoire, he laughs as he recalls extraordinary events that occurred during his career. "People know me for Charles Sobhraj but they don't know all the other stories." He recalls when an elephant started chasing people in Mumbai's Fort area and how he had to distract it by pulling a cart of sugarcane into a deserted space. "I felt like a superman. To this day, I don't know how I outran a frenzied elephant!"
Zende's book is a compilation of his best cases, which his son, Jai Vijaya Madhukar Zende, helped narrate in English. Reminiscing about his days as a young police officer, Zende's voice brightens up as he fills in more personal details. "When I was posted around Muslim areas, I learnt Urdu and the five principles of Islam to be able to connect to the locals there. They loved me," he excitedly says. "So when the Mumbai 1992 riots broke out, I was the only face they trusted considering the air was very anti-police at the time. There was a police van in one such area, surrounded by the mob who threatened to burn it down. I was able to walk inside the locality, unarmed and alone, and calm down the situation myself. Rapport means everything. That was my biggest accomplishment."
The incident which pushed him into the police limelight, he says, was when he helped calm down a mob during the 1997 semi-finals of the Rovers Club between Tata Sports Club and Dempo at Cooperage Football Ground near Nariman Point. When the referee disallowed a Tata goal as off-side, the team walked off the field. The match was called off within the first 10 minutes, and audiences demanded a refund. "The person in charge of Cooperage refused to give a refund. A mob formed, setting seats afire and threatening to burn the stadium too." His solution was to write "Put out the fire. We will refund" on a blackboard and run around the ground, asking the mob to calm down. "When they saw me do that, they trusted me. That trust is imperative to a policeman. Because if there had been no trust back then, this incredibly reputed ground may have been destroyed forever."
Zende's career includes countless such fascinating tales. From controlling riots inside the prisons to capturing high-profile criminals, Zende has seen and done it all. "I was known for my unbiased and ethical policing. The public had faith in me," he says.
Not just the public, the dons of the time held him in great regard, too. "After my retirement when I was riding on my scooter through Dharavi's lanes, Haji Mastan was coming up from behind in his Mercedes. He told his driver to not overtake me and instead divert the car to another lane. His driver later told me that was how much he respected me. And get this - I had arrested him twice in my career!"
Zende was so well-known for his work as a police officer, people cheered him with "Zende zindabad!" His reputation had reached high-level politicians too, including Rajiv Gandhi. "Once Rajiv Gandhi requested me to visit him in Raj Bhavan. He had learnt of me through newspapers and my interviews on Doordarshan. It was a proud and visceral moment for me."
Zende emphasises: "No police officer is successful without winning the actual support of the people that he serves. I always say, police is not a force but a service."
And what a legacy of service Zindadil Zende has given us!
