Brajesh Thakur’s aide, Muzaffarpur quack in CBI custody

MUZAFFARPUR: The CBI on Wednesday formally arrested Madhu Kumari alias Shahista Parveen, a close aide of Muzaffarpur children home rape case prime accused Brajesh Thakur. Madhu had surrendered before the central probe agency on Tuesday.

The CBI produced Madhu and Ashwini Kumar, who is reported to be a quack and who was arrested on Tuesday on charge of drugging the inmates of the children home before they were raped, before a special court set up under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act here on Wednesday. The court remanded the two in CBI custody for five days.

Madhu and Ashwini’s legal adviser Sudhir Kumar Ojha said the CBI had not levelled charges against his clients. “The CBI prayed for seven-day remand of the two, saying they were close associates of Brajesh. The agency told the court that since my clients can give more inputs related to the case, the remand should be granted despite no charges against them. The agency applied for remand only on the basis of apprehension,” Ojha said.

Ashwini was arrested from the house of his in-laws at Fatehpur village under the Kurhani police station area in Muzaffarpur district late on Tuesday evening. He was charged with administering sedatives to the minor girl inmates of the children home on the instructions of Brajesh.

Ashwini has, however, denied the allegations, saying he was only maintaining the bank accounts of Brajesh’s NGO Seva Sankalp Ewam Vikas Samiti (SSEVS). “Yes, I was employed by Brajesh. But I only used to keep his banking transactions in order. I have nothing to do with sedatives or any sort of medical treatment,” he told media persons after coming out of the Pocso court.

Madhu too denied any relation with Brajesh. She said she was being framed in the case. “I have no relation with Brajesh and his NGO. I have been running my own NGO Vama Shakti Vahini. I don’t need to work with any individual or organisation,” she said.

However, a social welfare department source said Madhu was employed as district resource person at Samastipur to run the department’s ‘link worker scheme’ at Dharmapur. “It is evident from a letter Madhu had written to the employees of her NGO on March 17 this year, asking them to expedite the work being done under the scheme,” he said.

According to a SSEVS official, Madhu got herself officially associated with the NGO in 2006. “She used to look after the AIDS awareness programme carried out by the SSEVS. After the National AIDS Control Organisation stopped the programme, Madhu started working actively for the children home for girls,” the official added.

Madhu was also listed as the correspondent of Brajesh’s Urdu daily ‘Halaat-e-Bihar’.