By IANS,
Gandhinagar : Seventeen months after two students of the Asaram Bapu ashram in Ahmedabad were found dead under mysterious circumstances, the Gujarat police moved to file a case of culpable homicide against seven workers of the ashram.
The case registered by the CID (crime) department in the deaths of Dipesh and Abhishek was filed under section 304 (homicide) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Protection Act.
The seven workers include the PRO of the ashram Uday Sanghani. The workers have been charged with negligence and for causing delay in informing the police though aware that the children had gone missing.
The 10 and 11 -year old Vaghela cousins, who were studying in the ashram, went missing on the night of July 3, 2008. They were found dead in the ravines of the Sabarmati river behind the ashram two days later. The mutilation of their bodies led to suspicion of their having been made guinea pigs in some religious ritual. The deaths led to a public outcry and widespread violence following a strike call in the city.
Praful Vaghela and Shantilal Vaghela, the fathers of Abhishek and Dipesh respectively, have voiced their dissatisfaction with the investigations.
“The police are under pressure. They should have been charged with murder not homicide,”said Praful, father of Abhishek. The parents have been demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation probe.
The filing of the case comes after the Vaghelas knocked at the doors of the Gujarat High Court and the court issued a show cause notice to the police asking why the probe should not be handed over to the CBI.
“The case has been registered only to counter the writ petition filed in the high court,” he added. The state government appointed Justice D.K. Trivedi panel is also probing the mysterious deaths.
Ramesh Patel, a former worker or sadhak at the ashram in his submission before the Trivedi panel has spoken of tantric rituals being performed in the ashram.