Narayan Sai released from Surat jail on temporary bail in alleged sexual assault case

Surat: After spending 17 months behind bars in connection with an alleged rape case, self-styled godman Asaram's son Narayan Sai on Tuesday walked out of Lajpor Central Jail in Surat on three weeks' temporary bail.

"The Gujarat High Court had yesterday granted 21-day temporary bail to Narayan Sai to attend to his ailing mother. He was released from Lajpor jail today at 11.35 AM," a jail official said.

After being released from the jail, Sai left for Ahmedabad where his mother Lakshmiben will undergo a surgery for a cervical chord ailment, said the official.

Sai will be escorted by 22 policemen, including two crime branch men, a sub-inspector of Surat police along with 18 jawans of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) during the bail period, he said.

The Gujarat High Court had on Monday granted conditional temporary bail to Sai, who will remain under police surveillance during his bail period. The HC also ordered Sai to surrender in four days from the date of his release, if his mother's surgery does not take place till then.

Earlier, the HC had on April 16 granted three-week bail to Sai for attending the proposed surgery of his mother at a hospital in Ahmedabad.

However, the Supreme Court had on April 29 modified the order saying that Sai would be released on bail only after the date of his mother's operation was fixed.

The apex court had acted then on a plea of Gujarat police seeking cancellation of interim bail granted to Sai on various grounds, including that the accused may tamper with evidence in the case in which charges are yet to be framed.

Sai was behind bars since December 2013 in the rape case filed by two Surat-based sisters, who had lodged two different rape complaints against him and his father Asaram. Sai's mother was also booked in the alleged rape case filed against Asaram by one of the sisters. Later, she was granted bail.

Sai was booked under various IPC sections, including rape, molestation and wrongful confinement. The younger of the two sisters had in her complaint accused Sai of repeated sexual assault between 2002 and 2005 when she was living at his Surat ashram.

The relief for Sai came amid reports of attacks on witnesses of rape cases against him and Asaram, who is lodged in a jail in Jodhpur in connection with a rape case.