Court orders CBI probe into missing witness

LUCKNOW: The Allahabad high court on Monday ordered a CBI inquiry into the disappearance of an important witness in a high-profile case involving Asaram Bapu, a

LUCKNOW: The Allahabad high court on Monday ordered a CBI inquiry into the disappearance of an important witness in a high-profile case involving Asaram Bapu, a self-styled godman accused of raping an underage girl.

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Uttar Pradesh police were trying to trace witness Rahul Sachan, who went missing from Kaiserbagh bus stand in Lucknow on November 25, 2015. Call data records of his cellphone showed his last location at Mallahwan in Hardoi district on April 9, 2016.

The high court bench of justice AP Shahi and justice Vijay Laxmi upbraided Lucknow police for their tardy progress in finding the missing witness. It said the shoddy investigation warranted a CBI probe into Sachan’s disappearance.

His disappearance triggered speculation he might have been killed like other witnesses who had testified against Asaram. His personal aide, Amrut Prajapati, was killed in 2014, while another associate, Akhil Gupta, was shot dead the following year.