Express News Service
PATNA: Even as the Opposition parties accused the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar of shielding the culprits in the alleged rapes at a shelter home, state DGP KS Dwivedi said on Tuesday rejected the demand for a CBI probe, saying the ongoing probe was running satisfactorily.
With several Opposition MPs from Bihar raising the Muzaffarpur shelter home issue in parliament and seeking a CBI probe, Union home minister Rajnath Singh had said earlier in the day that a CBI probe may be ordered if the state government recommended so.
The issue was raised aggressively by Opposition lawmakers in both Houses of Bihar legislature. RJD, Congress and CPI-ML(Liberation) legislators disrupted the proceedings in the Assembly and demanded a CBI probe into the sexual exploitation of the inmates of the government-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur, 70 km north of Patna.
"Police acted swiftly after the allegations surfaced, and ten of the 11 accused have already been arrested. With the government being serious about this case, the ongoing probe is running satisfactorily. There is no need for a CBI probe," said DGP KS Dwivedi.
"I am fully satisfied with the progress of the investigation," he added. Medical tests of 42 of the 44 girls residing at the shelter home were conducted and 29 of them were found to have had sexual contact, said the DGP. He also said police are probing allegations levelled by some inmates about the murder of an inmate a few years ago.
"Excavations were conducted, but no mortal remains were found. The probe is on. As per the shelter home's records, only one inmate was missing and she has already been traced. Verification is being made about reports that four inmates had earlier run away and three had died," added the DGP, who was accompanied by Atul Prasad, principal secretary of the state social welfare department.
Prasad said his department has reviewed the report submitted by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) which carried out a social audit of shelter homes across Bihar. "Corrective measures are being put in place to avoid repetition of such incidents. The details of the TISS report were not revealed at the beginning as the investigations were initiated immediately after the report came in," said Prasad.
Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav demanded a CBI probe monitored by Patna High Court. "Without the high court monitoring the probe, it will face the same fate the Srijan NGO scam is facing, in which the government is busy shielding the accused," said Yadav.
