Ahmedabad: Three sadhus of the renowned Swaminarayan sect, who had allegedly sodomised a 12-year old boy, were today (July 22, 2004) arrested nearly a fortnight after the incident, police said here tonight (July 21, 2004).

The three sadhus had been `absconding' after the incident that occurred on July 5 and were arrested today even as police maintained a veil of secrecy over the arrests. Assistant Commissioner of Police K D Pandya confirmed that the three sadhus were arrested but refused to divulge any other information.

"They had been absconding after the incident but I can tell you that they have not been arrested from the temple", Pandya said.

The victim, who was a working in a tea-stall in Maninagar area and was allegedly lured by these sadhus who promised to give him sweets in the Kalupur Swaminarayan temple and later they took him to one of the rooms and sodomised him. However, police was at a loss to explain the delay in arresting these sadhus despite the fact that the Forensic Science Laboratory report had suggested that the boy had been sodomised.