Police to probe alleged deaths in Asaram ashram

A police officer said the allegation was made by the caretaker of the ashram that the children died in mysterious circumstances

The Jammu and Kashmir Police has been directed by a court to probe allegations that three children were buried in the now jailed goman Asaram Bapu's ashram in Jammu.

A senior police officer said Monday that the allegation was made by the caretaker of the ashram that the children died in mysterious circumstances and were buried in the ashram complex.

Senior Superintendent of Police Atul Goel told reporters that caretaker Bhola Nath was willing to show the police where the children were buried.

A Jammu court, hearing a case filed by Raj Kumar Chowdhary, president of the All India Kisan Sewa Sangh, had directed the station house officer of the Nawabad police station to investigate the allegation.

Chowdhary told the court that Bhola Nath was ready to guide police to the burial site of the children at the ashram near Bhagwati Nagar here.

But Chowdhary said the caretaker wanted the authorities to protect him.

Asaram Bapu was arrested in Indore in Madhya Pradesh last month. He is now in a Rajasthan prison after a 16-year-old girl accused him of sexually assaulting her at his ashram near Jodhpur.