India
'Astrologer' Ashu had changed his name from Aasif Khan. He used to be a cycle-puncture repairer before starting to deceive his followers spread across the country.
New Delhi: Delhi Police have kept in detention Aasif Khan alias Ashu Bhai Guruji on a charge of rape filed by one of his woman followers and her daughter. The police detained the fake healer from Ghaziabad on Thursday early in the morning.
"He was asked to join the investigation after the complainant recorded her statement in front of a magistrate but he did not join the investigation," a police official said.
Interestingly, the accused preacher has been detained by Inspector Sanjay Sharma who had been suspended earlier for dancing with Radhe Maa during a function.
Sharma is in charge of the AATS staff of Shahdara district. He was the SHO at Vivek Vihar when he allegedly allowed self-styled preacher Radhe Maa to occupy his official seat for a while, and sang along with her. Along with Sharma, an ASI was suspended while four more personnel were transferred to District Lines, which was punitive posting.
According to sources, this time, Sharma was tipped off by an informer that Ashu was hiding in Ghaziabad. Sharma, along with his team, detained Ashu.
Sources claimed that astrologer Ashu had changed his name from Aasif Khan. He used to be a repair punctures in bicycle tyres before he started deceiving his followers spread across the country. "He changed his name so that he could fool people across India. He also started a paid program on a TV channel to promote himself. He used to fool the people by solving their personal problems. He started advertising his astrology business on television. He used to charge Rs 25,000 as a fee for one visit," a police official said.
An FIR was registered against Aasif-turned-Ashu and his son for allegedly raping a woman and her daughter.
The complainant in the FIR has claimed that Maharaj had sexually assaulted the child when she was just six years' old on the pretext of curing a pain in her abdomen. The victim alleged further that Ashu even forced her to visit his ashrams in Hauz Khas and Rohini where he, along with his manager Ravi Shankar, raped her.
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