Asaram verdict: MHA asks states to tighten security

[caption id="attachment_178507" align="aligncenter" width="565"] Jodhpur: Security force deployed outside Jodhpur Central Jail ahead of the court's verdict on Asaram's sexual assault case, on Tuesday. PTI Photo (PTI4_24_2018_000144B)[/caption] New Delhi/Jodhpur, April 24 (PTI): The Centre today asked Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana to tighten security and deploy additional forces ahead of the verdict by a Jodhpur court in a rape case against self-styled godman Asaram, an official said. In a communication, the Home Ministry told the three states to beef up security and ensure that no violence takes place after the judgment tomorrow. The three states were also told to deploy additional forces in sensitive places, the Home Ministry official said. The magistrate along with court staff, Asaram and the co-accused along with the defence and prosecution counsels will remain present in the courtroom in jail premises, he said. Asaram is accused of raping a teenage girl from Shahajahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, who was studying at the godman’s ashram at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. The victim had alleged that Asaram called her to his ashram in Manai area near Jodhpur and raped her on the night of August 15, 2013. “The security for the victim’s family is continuously being monitored... Two more constables will stand guard outside her house in addition to the five policemen already deployed there, and a strict vigil is being maintained on all the visitors using CCTV cameras,” Superintendent of Police K B Singh told PTI . A vigil was also being kept on Asaram’s ashram at Rudrapur, he said. Asaram was arrested in Indore and brought to Jodhpur on 1 September, 2013. He is under judicial custody since September 2, 2013. The chargesheet against Asaram and four other co-accused Shiva, Shilpi, Sharad and Prakash had been filed by the police on November 6, 2013 under various sections of the POSCO Act, Juvenile Justice Act and IPC. Asaram has unsuccessfully moved 12 bail applications, of which six were rejected by the trial court, three by the Rajasthan high court and three by the Supreme Court.