Narayan Sai, son of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, was finally arrested on Tuesday night, after giving law enforcement agencies a runaround for 58 days. A Delhi court granted Gujarat Police a day’s transit remand to produce Sai before a court in Surat
Sai and three of his aides, including a juvenile, were intercepted near Pipli in Kurukshetra by the Delhi Police Crime Branch. Sai was on the run after a complaint was filed by a 30-year-old woman that he raped her between 2001 and 2005. Gujarat Police had earlier issued a Non- Bailable Warrant against him and placed a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on his head. A bounty of Rs 1 lakh was also placed on Kaushal Thakur, said to be Sai’s personal security officer.
“Sai, his aide Kaushal Thakur, alias Bhakat Hanuman, and driver Ramesh were arrested. A juvenile boy who was with them was let off since he did not have any criminal record. The police recovered Rs 2.61 lakh from Sai, six mobile phones and Rs 13,500 from Hanuman. The car in which they were travelling was also seized,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) SBK Singh.
Delhi Police zeroed in on an associate of Ramesh in Rohini, who revealed Sai’s last location in ludhiana, Punjab. A team was dispatched to ludhiana on December 2 but Sai had already left the area where he had been living in a gaushala of one of his disciples. Reinforcements were sent on December 3 and a total of nine teams and 30 officers took part in the operation.
On learning that Sai was travelling in a Ford Eco Sport SUV, teams were positioned at all probable diversions of National Highway 1. The car was intercepted near a petrol pump at Pipli, Kurukshetra and Sai and his aides were brought to Delhi. They were arrested at 3 pm after their identities were confirmed. Sai was wearing a saffron turban at the time of arrest to avoid identification.
Sai had been hiding in ashrams in Haridwar, Rishikesh had gone to Jaipur, Uttar Pradesh and also passed through Delhi. The whole operation was coordinated by KPS Malhotra, ACP/Northern Range, under the supervision of DCP/Crime (North), Kumar Gyanesh. The car belongs to Neha Diwan whose husband Ajay Diwan owns a rubber factory in Meerut. They also own the Diwan Public School in Meerut. The police are now investigating Neha’s involvement in the case.
Surat Police reached the Capital and Sai was produced at Rohini Court where the Metropolitan Magistrate granted a day’s transit remand to produce Sai before a court in Surat.