Muzaffarnagar: Moments after Kartik Haldar, the main accused in the murder of a prime witness in Asaram rape case, came out of the Chief Judicial Magistrate court here after a hearing on Thursday, the wife of the slain witness Akhil Gupta allegedly attacked him with sandals before she was restrained by women police personnel. Haldar is accused of gunning down three witnesses who had deposed against Asaram in the infamous rape case. Akhil Gupta, 37, was among several key witnesses in the rape case and was a former cook and aide of Asaram. Gupta was shot dead outside his house in Muzaffarnagar on January 11, 2015.Haldar was arrested by Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on March 14, 2016, and he has been lodged in Panipat jail since then. On August 31, CJM Gopal Tiwari of Muzaffarnagar court had asked the Haryana police to produce Haldar in the murder of witnesses in Asaram rape case.Naresh Gupta, father of Akhil Gupta, said, “It is good that the trial in the case has begun after much delay. Out of sheer grief, my daughter in-law reacted violently on seeing the accused. Now that the accused has seen my daughter-in-law, who is also a witness in the case, her life is in grave danger given the fact that three witnesses have been murdered while another three are missing. Over the past two years after my son was shot dead, our security has been gradually cut and this is a matter of concern.”According to superintendent of police (city) Omvir Singh, “The incident in the court premises happened because of the sudden reaction of a woman whose husband was murdered. We will certainly review the threat perception to the Gupta family and provide adequate security if required. So far, no one from the family has approached us in this regard.”Pawan Kumar, counsel for the victim’s family, told TOI, “The court has passed the judicial remand order under section 167 of CrPC — which means that the trial against the accused has begun. The next hearing is scheduled on October 4.”Section 167 of CrPC allows that a person may be held in the custody of police for a period of 15 days on the orders of a magistrate, whereas a judicial magistrate may remand a person to any form of custody — police or judicial. Judicial custody may extend up to 90 days.Asaram has been lodged in a Rajasthan jail since August 2013. Akhil Gupta had served as a state witness, after two sisters at a Surat ashram alleged that Asaram and his son Narayan Sai raped them. Gupta was the second witness to be killed in the case after Amrut Prajapati, a former Asaram aide, was shot dead in June 2015. The third witness, Kripal Singh, died after he was fatally shot at on July 11, 2015. The case had been moving at a very slow pace after CBI began its probe in October 2016.

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