Hundreds of devotees of arrested self styled godman Sarathi Baba alias Santosh Roul turned up at the court premises here on Monday to have a glimpse of him as he was produced in person before the court of SDJM after a gap of over three months. The police faced difficulties to keep the devotees, mostly women, away from the godman.

Chanting ‘hari bol’, the women devotees threw flower petals on Roul. But as they tried to come close to offer him garlands, they were prevented by the police. Roul was earlier produced before the court through video conferencing.

But he was produced in person before the SDJM court here for the first time on the day after charge sheets against him were filed against him last month.

Roul was arrested by the crime branch in August last year following a massive public outcry. He was booked in two cases, including the one filed by a woman devotee accusing him of kidnapping.

“Since Roul is also facing charges under SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the SDJM court would commit the case to session’s court. The commitment could not happen on the

day as other persons issued summon in the case could not reach the court”, said his lawyer Manas Chand adding that Roul would appear again before the lower court on January 21.