Arrested Asaram brought to Jodhpur amid tight security

Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu was today flown to Jodhpur from Indore for interrogation, hours after he was arrested amid high drama for allegedly assaulting a 16-year-old girl at his ashram.
72-year-old Asaram, who was escorted by Rajasthan police personnel led by Additional Commissioner of Police Satish Jnagid, reached the airport here on board an Air India flight via Delhi at about 1230 hrs.
DCP Ajay Pal Lamba told reporters that Asaram will be medically examined and taken for interrogation.
Unprecedented security arrangements were made at the airport, on the streets, outside and inside Asaram ashrams, and the Mahila Thana (women's police station) where the case has been lodged.

After coming out from the airport here, Asaram moved into one of the seven luxury vehicles escorted by cops and was taken to Rajasthan Armed Constabulary complex in Mador for questioning instead of the Mahila Thana.
The convoy was followed by seven buses with armed police personnel.

The godman might be taken for spot verification, Lamba said.
Asaram was arrested by the Jodhpur Police after midnight from his ashram in Indore and escorted by a large posse police personnel to the airport, where he spent the night on a sofa in the VIP lounge.
An Air India flight carrying Asaram from Indore left at 7.50 AM for New Delhi from where he boarded another flight for Jodhpur.

A team of doctors from Indore's Medical College had earlier found him fit for questioning and travel, the sources said. Armed with the medical report, a team of Jodhpur police arrested Asaram and whisked him in a white jeep about half an hour after the stroke of midnight, after waiting for nearly eight hours at the ashram.
Meanwhile, the father of the girl called off his fast-unto-death in Shahajahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh soon after the arrest of the godman in Indore.
Circle Officer, City, Rajeswar Singh offered the girl's father juice to end his fast that he began yesterday morning demanding immediate arrest of Asaram.

"The first hurdle has been overcome. We would take our fight forward," the father said after ending his fast after midnight.