CBI begins probe into Asaram Bapu aide missing case

The CBI registered a case to probe the abduction of Rahul Sachan, a crucial prosecution witness in the alleged molestation cases against self-styled godman Asaram Bapu. Sachan, an ayurveda practitioner who had claimed to be a personal assistant of Asaram from 2009 to 2013, went missing in November 25, 2015 from his residence in old Lucknow area.

Talking to reporters here, CBI spokesperson R.K. Gaur said, “The CBI has registered a case pertaining to the alleged kidnapping of Dr Rahul Sachan, a resident of Balanganj, Lucknow following the instructions of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court. The case which was earlier registered at police station Thakurganj, Lucknow”.

The agency took over the investigation on the direction of the high court August 29, 2016 order, which underlined the “slipshod manner of investigation”.

The last location of Sachan’s phone was found on November 25, 2015 at Mohalla Mallawan, district Hardoi, but it took six months for the investigation officer to visit the area. While Sachan went missing in November, the FIR was lodged by the police almost after a month on December 20.

Asaram has been in jail in Jodhpur since September, 2013. Two months later, along with his son Narayan Sai, the self-styled godman was booked for the alleged rape of two sisters at their ashram in Gujarat’s Surat district. Nine witnesses have been attacked so far and three of them have died. Asaram is facing trial in three criminal cases. A sessions court in Jodhpur is trying a case against Asaram on the charge of raping a 16-year-old girl, the daughter of a Shahjahanpur couple who had been his devotees for several years, in August 2013 in his Jodhpur ashram. Another case is being tried by a Gandhinagar court which relates to allegations of rape between 2001 and 2006, levelled by a Surat-based woman against Asaram.

A prime witness in the cases against Asaram, Kripal Singh, was shot dead in Shahjahanpur of Uttar Pradesh in July, 2015. Prior to that, Amrut Prajapati, a former Asaram aide, was shot dead in June 2014 in Gujarat. Another key witness, Akhil Kumar Gupta, who worked as a cook and personal aide of Asaram, was also shot dead in Muzaffarnagar of UP.