Zee Media Bureau
Surat: The city police have issued summons to Narayan Sai, the son of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu.
Notably, the father-son duo have been accused of raping two sisters in their ashrams. Asaram is already in jail in another sexual assault case.
Narayan's whereabouts have remained unknown after the complaints by the sisters surfaced.
In an exclusive interview to Zee Media, Surat's Commissioner of Police Rakesh Asthana said notices have been served at ashrams in Surat and Ahmedabad, asking Narayan to present himself before police at the earliest.
In case Narayan fails to appear before police, an arrest warrant could be issued against him.
On Tuesday, the Surat Police expressed fears that Sai may have fled the country via the Nepal border.
A police team, which has been formed by Ahmedabad Police Commissioner Shivanand Jha to probe the sexual assault case against Asaram, reached Surat on Monday evening to collect vital clues.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have seized ayurvedic medicines during the raids and later sent to laboratories in Vadodara for further tests.
Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad police have procured a transfer warrant from a court in Gandhinagar to question self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, currently lodged in a jail in Jodhpur, in connection with the Surat case.
A case was lodged in Surat's Jehangirpura police station on Sunday, which was later transferred to Chandkheda police station in Ahmedabad, against Asaram on the allegations of the elder of the two sisters that she was repeatedly sexually abused at his ashram in Motera in Gujarat.
The elder sister, in her complaint, had accused Asaram of repeated sexual assault between 1997 and 2006 during the time she had been living in his ashram on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city.
The younger sister had filed a complaint against Asaram's son Narayan Sai, accusing him of repeated sexual assault between 2002 and 2005 when she was living in their Surat ashram.
Six police teams formed by Surat police to trace Narayan Sai claim to have got vital clues regarding the case. On Tuesday, the police had started videographing the entire ashram and conducted a thorough inspection of the premises.
Earlier this week, police had issued a lookout notice for Narayan as well as his mother Laxmi and sister Bharti, who were named in the separate FIRs lodged by the sisters.
Asaram, 72, was arrested in August on charges of sexually assaulting a minor girl and has been in prison in Jodhpur since then.
The Surat police had recently registered two complaints - one against Asaram and another against Sai - of rape, sexual assault, illegal confinement and other charges.
(With PTI inputs)
First Published: Thursday, October 10, 2013, 08:28
