Asaram Bapu personally served notice for questioning

The self-styled spiritual guru may appear before Rajasthan police for questioning in connection with an alleged sexual assault case

A notice was on Tuesday served on spiritual guru Asaram Bapu at his ashram in Indore requiring him to appear before the Rajasthan Police for questioning in connection with an alleged sexual assault case registered against him by a 16-year-old girl, police said.

Jodhpur's Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Ajay Pal Lamba told the news agency over phone that a police team managed to deliver the notice to Asaram personally after eight hours of haggling with the godman's supporters.

The girl had made a complaint at a police station in Delhi on August 20, accusing Asaram Bapu of sexually assaulting her at his ashram in Rajasthan's Jodhpur city, police said.

A first information report (FIR) was registered against Asaram Bapu in Jodhpur after receiving a copy of the complaint from Delhi Police on Aug 21.

"We had come to know that Asaram was in Indore, so a team was rushed there with a notice requiring him to be present before the police before or on Aug 30," said a police official in Jodhpur.

The official added that the team had reached the ashram in Indore early Tuesday but was, however, not allowed entry by Asaram's supporters.

"The devotees said that he was in meditation, so our team waited there for eight hours before it managed to personally hand over the summon to Asaram Bapu," said the official.

Sources said that supporters shouted slogans against the police action.

A notice had also been served at Asaram's Ahmedabad ashram in Monday.

Asaram Bapu has been booked under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code, the official said.

A police team inspected the spiritual guru's ashram near Jodhpur on Thursday and recorded statements of several people to verify whether the girl and her parents were at the ashram on August 15 when the girl says she was sexually assaulted.

"During preliminary investigation, it has come up that the girl and her parents and Asaram Bapu were present in the ashram on August 15. The owner of the land, which is being used for the ashram, told police that the girl and her parents had come to the ashram to meet him," said the official.