Court orders police to produce accused in Asaram witness

A local court has directed Gujarat police to produce the main accused in the murder of a prime witness in the rape case against self-styled godman Asaram Bapu.

Acting Chief Judicial Magistrate Jitender Kumar yesterday ordered Gujarat police to produce Kartik Haldar in court on August 21, said prosecutor Diwakar Sharma.

Haldar, who is alleged to have murdered Akhil Gupta (35) in the district on January 11, 2015, was arrested by the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of Gujarat from Raipur in March last year.

During interrogation, he is said to have confessed to being involved in the crime. Halder is currently lodged in an Ahmedabad jail, said an officer of the crime branch, which is investigating the case.

"Uttar Pradesh police is trying to get Halder's custody in Muzaffarnagar," the officer added.

Asaram Bapu has been in jail since August 2013 for allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old schoolgirl.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)