Witness in Asaram Bapu case crtical after being shot

 

Bareilly, 12 Jul 2015: A key witness in the rape case against self-styled godman Asaram Bapu was shot at and seriously injured by unidentified assailants in Shajanpur district, police said here today.

 

 
35-year-old Kripal Singh was shot at by two unidentified motorcycle-borne persons in Puwayan area while he was on his way home last night, they said.

Police said that Singh, who sustained severe bullet injuries, was rushed to Bareilly where his condition was stated to be critical. This is the ninth attack on a witness so far in this case.

In a statement given to Additional City Magistrate, Singh had alleged that people connected to Asaram Bapu were threatening him from the last few days. Singh was an employee of a transport company, whose owner’s daughter had lodged a case of sexual assault against the self-styled godman.

In January this year, another witness who had served as a cook at Asaram’s ashram was shot dead in Muzaffarnagar.

When Asaram Bapu while being taking to a court in Jodhpur, was asked about an attack on a key witness against him in May, he sarcastically remarked, "Duniyaan mein sabhi hamle main hi karwata hoon (I am responsible for all the attacks in this world)". It was the sixth attack on a witness in the case.

Asaram Bapu has been in Jodhpur jail since September 2013 over allegations of raping a teenage girl. Two months later he, along with his son Narayan Sai, was booked for the alleged rape of two sisters at their ashram in Surat (Gujurat).

So far nine witnesses associated with the case have been attacked and two have died.