Muzaffarnagar: In a big setback to the investigations in Surat rape case against controversial ‘godman’ Asaram, Akhil Gupta, a witness in the case, was shot dead by unidentified persons in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, reports said.
Akhil Gupta was a cook and personal aide of Asaram Bapu, who has been in jail since August, 2013, for allegedly sexually assaulting a schoolgirl. Since then, he has been booked, along with his son, for the alleged rape of two sisters in Surat in Gujarat.
According to the police, the 35-year-old man was shot at when he was on his way to home on Sunday.
He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead. Gupta worked as a cook and personal aide of Asaram, who is in jail in connection with another case of sexual assault on a minor girl.
The Gujarat Police had recorded Gupta’s statement in connection with the case in 2013. The Gujarat authorities had recorded the statement of Gupta, considered an important witness in the case, before a court in Gandhinagar. Gupta had reportedly testified against the godman.
The Surat-based sisters have accused Asaram and his son Narayan Sai of raping them when they stayed at his ashrams in Ahmedabad and Surat between 1997 and 2006.
One of the women had approached the court recently for permission to change her earlier statement, raising speculation that there was pressure on the complainants and witnesses. The court rejected her request.
Bureau Report
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