Police have conducted raids in Ghaziabad, Noida, Haridwar, Rishikesh and Gorakhpur in search of the 40-year-old 'godman' who allegedly kidnapped a 25-year-old woman from Raj Nagar in Ghaziabad on February 15.
Anup Sahai, who happens to be the cousin of the kidnapped woman, Priyanka Srivastava, is still absconding.
The police have issued look out notices at all immigration checkpoints to stop Sahai from fleeing the country, SSP Raghuvir Lal said.
"From our investigations we have found that Sahai and the woman knew each other well and had also gone out to Rishikesh and Haridwar several times in the past. It is suspected that both of them have gone with consent but the woman's statements would be the deciding factor once we find them," the SSP added.
The woman's family, who had stated in the FIR lodged at Kavi Nagar police station on March5 that she was under depression, on Monday said she was "stable" since December 2009.
"They had long conversations over the phone which he recorded. We knew him since 2005 and he had helped my sister during her treatment for depression after my father's death. Since December 2009, Priyanka was mentally stable and had no complaints of depression," Amit Srivastava, the woman's brother told HT.
{{/usCountry}}"They had long conversations over the phone which he recorded. We knew him since 2005 and he had helped my sister during her treatment for depression after my father's death. Since December 2009, Priyanka was mentally stable and had no complaints of depression," Amit Srivastava, the woman's brother told HT.
{{/usCountry}}Sahai is reportedly a doctorate in Vedic Organic Agriculture from Netherlands and had huge followers from India and abroad, police said.
"He had also filed a divorce petition against his wife at Gorakhpur,” police said.