Delhi Police on Monday registered a case of rioting and vandalising public property against the supporters of Asaram Bapu after they indulged in clashes with the cops posted at the Parliament Street police station on Sunday midnight. According to senior police officers of the New Delhi district, seven to eight policemen sustained injuries while eight to ten police vehicles were damaged. Police have neither detained nor arrested any supporter till the filing of this report.
According to the police, at around 12 am, around 2,000 supporters of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu who were holding a demonstration at Jantar Mantar started raising slogans demanding his release when a scuffle broke out between them and the police. Seven policemen suffered injuries while several police vehicles were damaged in the clash when the protestors started pelting stones at the cops and even tried to storm inside the Parliament Street police station.
According to the senior police officer, a case under relevant sections of rioting, causing damage to public property and obstructing a police official from performing duty was registered at the Parliament Street police station. Asaram was arrested from his ashram at Indore in Madhya Pradesh and brought to Jodhpur on September 1, 2013. He is lodged in the Jodhpur Central Jail since then.
A 16-year-old girl had lodged a police complaint accusing Asaram of sexually assaulting her at his ashram near Jodhpur. Asaram’s bail applications had earlier been rejected by the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court.