For the week ending Aug. 2, 1983

BLASTS ROCK SECT’S HOTEL IN PORTLAND

Three explosions ripped through a downtown hotel today owned by the followers of an often-criticized Indian guru.

Sect leaders claimed the blasts at the Hotel Rajneesh were an act of vengeance against the group, and security will be beefed up.

It was the first major act of violence against the religious group since the 51-year-old guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and several hundred followers moved to Central Oregon two years ago and began buying up property.

“We’ve been expecting something like this because of the bigoted and inflammatory sentiments that have been expressed against us,” said Swami Krishna Deva, mayor of Rashneeshpuram on the guru’s 64,000-acre ranch in Central Oregon.

An arson suspect, Stephen P. Paster, was critically injured in the first explosion. Paster underwent surgery for “explosive injuries,” hospital officials said.

Police charged him with three counts of first-degree arson and placed him under arrest at the hospital.

Paster was not a follower of the guru but had stayed at the guru’s ranch. He caused no problems as a guest of the sect, spokeswoman Ma Prem Isabel said.

The building, a former hotel for women called the Martha Washington, was purchased by the sect last year.