Profile: Radovan Karadzic | Commentary: Misha Glenny | Opinion: David Owen | Pictures: end of the road for fugitive | Eyewitness: haunted woods in Srebrenica | Eyewitness: horror of Sarajevo siege | Factfile: the Balkans' recent history | Q&A: Karadzic arrest | World reaction to arrest |

The mysterious old man with the flowing white beard who exuded spirituality and became a celebrated alternative healer went by the name of Dr Dragan David Dabic. Yesterday he was unmasked as one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, living an extraordinary double life in the midst of those seeking him for war crimes.

Radovan Karadzic may have been lionised in folk songs by Serb nationalists for his ability to avoid capture. Not even his most imaginative supporters would have guessed that he was hiding behind a New Age persona, providing a bio-energy boost and “human quantum energy” for clients in a Belgrade suburb.

Dr Karadzic, 63, the Bosnian Serb leader who had been on the run for nearly 13 years, was in a cell last night preparing to appeal against his extradition to The Hague, where he faces 11 charges, including genocide carried out allegedly on his orders.

His arrest leaves the former General Ratko Mladic, Dr Karadzic’s military commander, as the most-wanted Bosnian Serb fugitive. Mr Mladic is widely believed to be hiding in Serbia, probably protected by sections of the Yugoslav military.

There was astonishment when police revealed the true identity of Dr Dabic, and disbelief among those who had been taken in. The distinctive mane of grey hair had been replaced by a snowy beard and glasses. His landlord had no idea who was renting the nondescript high-rise flat in New Belgrade.

“It was a brilliant camouflage,” said Goran Kojic, the editor-in-chief of a health magazine who knew “Dr Dabic” and published several of his articles on Serbian Orthodox meditation. “He left such a calm impression of a cultured man of great spirituality. He was funny, entertaining and eloquent, the sort of person you wanted as a friend.”

The Serb authorities gave details of the dramatic arrest of Dr Karadzic yesterday, suggesting that they had been following a circle of his supporters for weeks while awaiting their opportunity. They said that they simply seized him on a bus on Monday night as he travelled between safe houses. Other Serbian government sources said that Dr Karadzic had been under surveillance for several weeks after a tip-off from a foreign intelligence service.

Rasim Ljajic, the minister in charge of co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, said: “He was very convincing in hiding his identity. He was performing alternative medicine, making money that way.”

Dr Karadzic’s undercover life was in an area of the city known for its nationalist sentiment, and he was protected by a group of sympathisers.

There was no suggestion yesterday that anyone would receive a share of the $5 million put up by the United States for his capture. The Serb authorities denied the involvement of foreign security services.

The official version of events was immediately challenged by Dr Karadzic’s lawyer, who insisted that his client had indeed been seized on a bus but that the seizure had taken place on Friday morning. He was led off by several plainclothes policemen, hooded, and taken to a small room where he was held for three days, Svetozar Vujacic claimed. “He was blindfolded and that is absolutely against the law,” he said.

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