Patna: The infamous Muzaffarpur remand home for girls exploitation of minor girls took a new turn on Saturday when the special POCSO court directed CBI to probe the role of the chief minister Nitish Kumar, principal secretary of social welfare department and then DM of Muzaffarpur in case as they had “given clean” chit to the remand home.
Additional district Judge Manoj Kumar who is designated special judge for offences under POCSO on a petition filed by one of the jailed accused, Dr Awainash Kumar, directed SP of CXBI at Patna to probe the roles of the three. The court directed CBI to get the statement of Awinash recorded in a court under Section 164 of CPC and launched probe against chief minister and two senior IAS officers-Atul Prasad, who is principal secretary in welfare department and Dharmendra Singh who was DM of Muzaffaropur in 2013 when 34 girls were exploited.
A Muzaffarpur based lawyer filed the petition in the court on behalf of Dr Awinash who was accused of adminstering drugs and sedatives to the victims. The Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences had conducted audit of the remand homes of the state and found large-scale irregularities, including sexual exploitation of the inmates.
Rape on 34 inmates of Muzaffarpur’s Balika Grih were confirmed during their examination at Patna Medical College Hospital. In the case, Ashwani Kumar in his four-page petition alleged the CBI suppressed the facts in the case and did not take notice of the involvement of the chief minister and other officials.
The petition claimed though irregularities were committed in 2013,the remand home continued to get grants from the government till last year when the CBI took over the investigations. CM had visited the home of the main accused, Brajesh Thakur near remand home to celebrate the birth-day of Thakur’s child. On the orders of the Supreme Court, Thakur was transferred to Patiala jail in Punjab from Muzaffarpur.
On February 7, the Supreme Court had reprimanded both the CBI and state government on their poor investigations, delay in trial at Muzaffarpur. On orders of the Supreme Court, the case has been transferred to POCSO court at Saket in New Delhi.Apex court directed the trial must conclude within seven months.