Police on Wednesday took controversial spiritual leader Ram Bahadur Bomjan to Sarlahi to face trial at the District Court, Sarlahi over a charge of raping a minor girl.

A team of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police on Tuesday arrested him from a house located at ward 6 of Budhanilkantha Municipality in Kathmandu. Police on Wednesday made him public at a press meet in Kathmandu before taking him to Sarlahi.

Besides rape charges, Bomjan also faces accusations of potential involvement in the disappearance of four of his disciples from his hermitages. But no cases have yet been registered at the court relating to the missing persons, police said.

“We will present him at the District Court in Sarlahi on Thursday,” Senior Superintendent of Police Dinesh Acharya told the Post. “He will be kept in police custody in Sarlahi on Wednesday.”

Bomjan had been in hiding since the District Court, Sarlahi on February 6, 2020, issued an arrest warrant against him as per a police request. In July 2020, a case of sexual exploitation was filed against Bomjan in the District Court, Sarlahi.

In the chargesheet, the District Attorney Office, Sarlahi has demanded 12–15 years of prison for Bomjan and his two aides, Gyan Kumar Bomjan and Jit Bahadur Tamang, for their alleged involvement in the sexual exploitation of the minor. The chargesheet accuses Bomjan, the prime suspect, of raping a 15-year-old girl who was staying in his ashram (hermitage) at Pattharkot, Sarlahi, as an Ani (nun).

The case filed against the main accused Bomjan stated that he raped the minor by luring her to his private quarters at 9:20pm on August 4, 2016. He has further been charged with threatening the girl with consequences if she disclosed the incident to others.

After the victim turned 18, on February 23, 2020, a complaint against him was registered at the District Police Office in Sarlahi.

Before the rape complaint was registered with the police, other complaints about missing persons from several of his hermitages were also registered with the police.

According to the police, Chinimaya Tamang of Myagang Rural Municipality, who was one of his disciples, has been missing since 2012 from Bomjan’s hermitage at Badegaun in Sindhupalchok. Likewise, Sanchalal Waiba, another disciple from Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City, has also been missing from the same hermitage since 2015.

Phulmaya Rumba, who was known as Dolmo, from the Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City, and Suresh Kumar Ale from Simara Sub-metropolitan City are the others missing from his hermitages for a long time, according to the police. “They are yet to be found,” said SSP Acharya.

In January 2019, police raided his hermitage at Kamalamai in Sindhuli district after complaints were registered by the families of those missing, but the police failed to locate Bomjan.

In the same month, the police had raided another of his hermitages at Sindhupalchok, but once again failed to trace Bomjan.

The Sindhuli Ashram was again raided in June 2020, but the police failed to find Bomjan that time too.

During those raids, police had faced non-cooperation and even obstruction from his followers, according to police. According to SSP Acharya, despite their obstructions, police had reached his hermitages, but each time Bomjan would already have escaped.

Four years after the filing of the rape case against Bomjan, police could quietly arrest him from Kathmandu.

“We reached the place where he lived, and there were not many followers protecting him,” said SSP Acharya. “He was living a normal life with his wife and two children.”

According to SSP Acharya, police were on the lookout for Bomjan in the area based on a tip-off. “After we confirmed that he was staying there, we immediately conducted an operation to arrest him,” he said.

When the police reached the house, Bomjan tried to escape again. “He jumped from the southern window of the fourth floor to the sloped land outside, but we did not let him get away this time,” said Superintendent of Police Nawaraj Adhikari, the CIB spokesman.

CIB chief AIG Kiran Bajracharya said a high level of secrecy made Bomjan’s arrest possible without much resistance by his followers. “In the past, he managed to evade arrest as such arrest attempts were rather public.”

Along with his arrest, police also confiscated cash totalling Rs33.43 million, including foreign currencies of 17 different countries worth Rs3.092 million. According to the CIB, a Toyota Hilux key, ownership documents of three two-wheelers, and multiple electronic devices including 14 mobile phones of different brands, laptops, pen drives, iPads, and tablets were also seized during the search operation.

SSP Acharya said that police would investigate Bomjan for possessing illegal money. “He can face charges of money laundering and foreign exchange misappropriation,” said SSP Acharya.

According to the police, Bomjan had been using a Toyota Fortuner SUV registered in the name of Tularam Tamang. A Land Cruiser ZX, an expensive car, was also set to be purchased for Bomjan’s use. The prospective buyer was Panit Maharjan, chairman of Bodhi Shrawan Dharma Sangh.

“The car was booked for Rs50 million,” the police said. “They had already paid Rs30 million.” According to the police, he had also been using motorcycles of various brands.

Bomjan had shot to fame in 2005 after purportedly meditating for months without food, water or sleep. He had been dubbed the ‘Buddha Boy’ by the media. After emerging from his meditation, he and his followers had set up ashrams in Bara, Sarlahi, Sindhupalchok, and Sindhuli districts where the alleged abuses took place, the police said.