Former Jodhpur DCP Remembers Asaram Case, Says Minor's Statement Helped Police Arrest Godman

Jodhpur: Asaram was arrested four and a half years ago on August 31, 2013, by Rajasthan's Jodhpur police from Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

This was a big success by Jodhpur police. After keeping him for four days in police remand, Asaram was lodged in the Jodhpur Central Jail.

It was the successful planning and meticulous operation headed by then DCP of Jodhpur, Ajay Pal Lamba, that managed to send Asaram behind bars.

According to Lamba, it was a very difficult task. But after the charges were proved in the investigation against Asaram, a proper planning was done to execute the arrest of Asaram from Indore.

Lamba says that there were a lot of hurdles. Asaram was at the peak of spiritual success then and had mass blind followers all across the country. In that situation “to arrest Asaram from another state was extremely challenging".

However, the most crucial part of evidence in the case was the statement by the victim, who is a minor, said the then DCP. The evidence matched with the statement of the victim thus strengthening the case against Asaram. This became the basis on which Asaram was arrested and proved a major success for Jodhpur police.

The Rajasthan police claimed it had the necessary evidence to pin down Asaram, who has been accused of sexually assaulting the 16-year-old daughter of his disciple.

The teenager had accused the 72-year-old of forcing himself on her at his ashram in Jodhpur, and threatened to kill her and her parents if she reported the matter to anyone.

Asaram Bapu dismissed the allegations as 'bakwas' (nonsense).

"Our teams went to his ashrams in Gurukul, Shahjahanpur, Ahmedabad and Indore. We investigated what the girl said. We have verified the charges and found some evidence," Ajay Pal Lamba, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jodhpur, had then said.

In a Facebook post, the former police officer said that it was a landmark judgment that proved that if the law of the land is implemented partially, even the weakest can take on the might of the most influential person.

Read his full post here: