This Article is From Aug 29, 2016

High Court Asks CBI To Probe Disappearance Of Witness In Asaram Bapu Case

High Court Asks CBI To Probe Disappearance Of Witness In Asaram Bapu Case

75-year-old Asaram Bapu is facing rape charges after a teenaged girl accused him of sexual assault.

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court today directed the CBI to investigate the disappearance of a prime witness Rahul Sachan in the rape case against self-styled godman Asaram Bapu.
    
The court expected that the CBI shall conclude the investigation related to Thakurganj police station in Lucknow and file its report not later than six months from Monday, if possible earlier.
    
75-year-old Asaram Bapu is facing rape charge after a teenaged girl accused him of sexual assault at his ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur. The girl belonging to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh was a student at the ashram.
    
Following her complaint against Asaram Bapu, he was arrested by Jodhpur Police on 31 August, 2013 and has been in jail since then.
    
The High Court judgement, which was reserved earlier, was delivered by a Division Bench of Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Justice Vijay Laxmi on a PIL filed by Bennet Castelino, a lawyer.
    
The petition sought directions to the CBI to investigate the disappearance of Rahul Sachan, prime prosecution witness in the case against Asumal Harpalani aka Asaram Bapu.
    
According to FIR, Mr Sachan went missing on November 25,2015.

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