Ashram authorities have been calling up and pressuring them to withdraw a missing complaint she lodged with the Ahmedabad police on December 15 last year, the woman claimed.

More than 20 days after lodging the complaint, Chaya Shaw (Jaiswal) said she is still running from pillar to post along with her two sons to find her husband.

Krishna Prasad Shaw (Jaiswal), a 52-year-old resident of Howrah, went missing from the ashram on the night of November 22 last year. “It has been over a month. We have made several trips to Gujarat and approached the police. But nothing happened. The ashram people, instead of helping us, tried to hush up the matter. They even sent a team to my father’s house (Kali Prasad Shaw) and asked us to withdraw the missing diary. We fear he is no more and the ashram people could be behind this,” Chaya said at her residence on Shibpur Road, Howrah.

The Shaw (Jaiswal) family members are followers of Asaram Bapu and Chaya herself took diksha in 2002. Six family members, including Kali Prasad Shaw, the missing man’s father-in-law, and a help made a trip to Gujarat in November last year. They reached Bapu’s ashram on November 22 and planned to visit Dwarka and Ujjain the next day after spending a night there. “We went to the ashram and paid Rs 50 each after which separate rooms for men and women were allotted to us. We had dinner around 9 pm and went to sleep. In the morning, I saw my husband missing,” said Chaya.

The family then started searching for Krishna Prasad, both inside the ashram premises and in the city. Chaya says the ashram authorities did not help them in the search.

“When we went to the police station, they asked for 17 copies of photographs before they could lodge the missing diary,” said Chaya.

The family then returned to Howrah and went to Ahmedabad again on December 14. A diary was lodged with the Chandkhera police station on December 15. Later, escorted by the police, family members went to the ashram and searched the premises, but failed to locate Krishna Prasad. They scoured Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar areas as well.

“The ashram authorities did not help us. We went to morgues, hospitals, all police stations and railway stations. We distributed over 300 pictures of Krishna Prasad. We even approached beggars. But nothing happened. The police too made little effort. We ultimately returned on December 21,” said Ashok Shaw, a relative of the family who accompanied them.

The ashram authorities later sent a team from Garia to the victim’s home and tried to pressurise the family into withdrawing the missing diary. “We, however, refused to withdraw it. They then told us to give it to them on writing that we do not suspect the ashram authorities. We refused that as well. We fear they have a direct hand in the incident. They also called us up numerous times,” Ashok added. The family has also written to the Shibpur police station and thr Howrah Superintendent of Police.