Asaram rape cases: Followers paid sharp shooter Rs 25 lakh to kill witnesses

The sharp shooter is suspected to have shot dead three key witnesses to dilute cases against Asaram.

Followers of self-styled godman Asaram from across the country allegedly collected funds to hire a sharp shooter and paid him Rs 25 lakh to kill witnesses in rape cases filed against the religious leader, according to a report.

The sharp shooter identified as Kartik Haldar, was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Gujarat on Tuesday and is suspected to have shot dead three key witnesses in rape cases against Asaram.

Haldar was arrested from Raipur in Chhatisgarh in a joint operation by ATS and Crime Branch unit of city police and was brought to Ahmedabad on Tuesday, a senior official said.

During his interrogation, Haldar told officials he had met the followers of Asaram in 2014, who instructed him to kill witnesses in a bid to weaken cases against the controversial preacher, ATS said in a statement.

Besides murdering three witnesses, Haldar had also attempted to kill four others who were directly or indirectly associated with the rape cases filed against Asaram in Jodhpur and Ahmedabad.

Haldar allegedly killed Asaram's personal doctor Amrut Prajapati in June 2014, his assistant-cum-cook Akhil Gupta in January 2015 and another key witness, Kripal Singh, in July 2015.

All of them were shot from close range as part of a conspiracy to eliminate those who had given their testimonies against Asaram, ATS said in a statement.

Prajapati, an Ayurvedic doctor, was shot dead by Haldar at his dispensary in Rajkot. The doctor was vocal about Asaram's misdeeds and became a witness in the rape case filed three years back.

Gupta became a witness in the same case in 2013. He was fatally shot by the accused near his house in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. The probe in this case was handed over to CBI.

The sharp shooter then targeted Singh, who was killed in Shahjahanpur, UP.

Singh used to work as a clerk in the office of a man whose minor daughter had lodged a case of sexual assault against Asaram in Jodhpur. Singh was the prime witness in that case, said the release.