Why should Asaram not be tried in a jail court?
Officers involved with security at the court complex said Asaram case has been taking a big toll on them and the court should be held in jail.
The district court complex in Jodhpur is fortified frequently these days whenever Asaram case is taken up. Three SHOs and 50 police personnel are too less to work out security at this sprawling complex where thousands of Asaram's angry supporters gather. They have been involved in serious violence besides routine scuffle with the police.
On February 13, Satyanarayan, a native of Odissa and living at Asaram's ashram in Jodhpur knifed a witness Rahul at the district court premises.
The injured is unconscious and is fighting for his life.
Local police officers wonder what was preventing the government and the court to shift trial to jail instead of bringing Asaram to the court. An officer concerned with security at the court complex told India Today that here was an impression that state government did not want to appear harsh on Asaram or his followers. Ashok Singhal, patron of Vishwa Hindu Parishad had a meeting with Asaram at the high security jail at Jodhpur in January.
Rahul has been a former sewadar of Asaram, who is in Jodhpur jail facing rape charge for molesting a minor student at one of his schools.
Rahul, a resident of Kanpur, had accused Asaram of having relations with women. He had come as a witness and before the court, he expressed apprehension about his security. Yet, after his appearance, when he was about to sit in a police jeep, he was attacked with knife.
Officers involved with security at the court complex said Asaram case has been taking a big toll on them and the court should be held in jail.
Recently, one of his supporters threw a bottle on a judge. Before that, SHO Harji Ram was threatened who lodged an FIR. Another of his follower threatened to blow up Udaipur Airport. The rape victim's father was also manhandled during his stay at a hotel. And two of the witnesses for cases in Gujarat have been killed.
This very court complex had gangsters firing on police guards to help escape accused in Bhanwri Devi murder case a few years ago. She was an auxiliary nurse killed allegedly by gangsters hired by then Congress minister Mahipal Maderana and MLA Malkhan Singh Bishnoi, both of whom are in jail. Yet one wonders what government or court is achieving by not shifting trial to the jail. Such incidents will work against Asaram and not in his favour.