Jodhpur/Indore: Hot on the trail of Asaram Bapu, Jodhpur Police today said the self-styled godman, who is currently at Indore ashram, is medically fit for interrogation and it is set to question him soon in connection with the sexual assault case.
The planned moves by the police came even as supporters of Asaram allegedly attacked a TV reporter and a cameraman at his Jodhpur ashram leaving them injured. Police said 13 people including a woman have been arrested in the attack which was condemned by the Broadcast Editors' Association (BEA).
A day after 72-year-old Asaram ignored the Friday deadline for him to appear before Jodhpur police following summons, a police team will be questioning him at his Indore ashram and make an arrest if it is not satisfied with his defence against the allegations of sexual assault levelled by a 16-year-old girl, an inmate of his Jodhpur ashram.
“We have just got information that he(Asaram) is medically fit for interrogation. A Jodhpur police team will begin his questioning in the next few hours after it goes to the Indore Ashram,” Jodhpur DCP Ajay Lamba told reporters in Jodhpur this evening.
“If we are not satisfied with the defence offered by Asaram we will arrest him,” Lamba said after it initially appeared that the police was clueless about the whereabouts of the controversial self-styled godman.
The speculation about Asaram's whereabouts ended after Asaram's son Narayan Sai claimed he is not evading the police and that he is recuperating at his ashram in Indore from illness.
Lamba said that the Jodhpur police got a fax from Indore ashram yesterday in which it was stated that Asaram had a “neurological problem” after he underwent a medical examination by doctors of Bhopal Medical Colege.
However, the latest communication from Indore police was that doctors of Indore Medical College have stated that Asaram is medically fit for travel and interrogation, he said.
“We can given an official declaration of arrest only after communicating with Asaram Bapu,” Lamba added.
