New Delhi: The CBI, probing the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case, may register fresh cases to probe the role of two other senior public servants of the state government. A special Pocso in Bihar (Muzaffarpur) recently directed the CBI to record the statement of an accused doctor in the case and look into allegations made by him against several senior government officials, including two senior public servants.
“The agency is analysing it,” sources said, adding that registering fresh FIRs against more public servants can not be ruled out in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual case. Ashwani Kumar, accused of administering sedatives to the victims, had filed a petition before the Pocso court alleging that the “CBI is suppressing facts” and that the investigative agency had recorded his statement but did not incorporate it in the chargesheet.
Hearing the petition, the court directed the CBI under 164 of the CrPC to look into the prayers of the petitioner.
The petitioner had requested a CBI probe against the senior officials for not monitoring periodic government reports, especially by the Child Working Committee, on the functioning of Muzaffarpur shelter home.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), another Central probe agency which is investigating the case, is preparing to record the statement of Dilip Verma, former chairman of the District Child Welfare Committee, under the stringent provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Sources said investigation of the agency revealed that Verma was constantly in touch with the prime accused in the case Brajesh Thakur and the former allegedly helped Thakur in procuring certain immovable assets, worth several crores, in the state. Over 30 girls were allegedly raped at the shelter home, run by Thakur, chief of the state-funded NGO. An FIR was lodged on May 31, 2018, against 11 people, including Thakur. The probe was later taken over by the CBI.
“Verma is already in the judicial custody and ED sleuths will soon record his statements”, sources said. Verma allegedly knows about the financial details and investments made by other accused in the case also, they added. The ED is also preparing to file its preliminary chargesheet in the case very soon. Brajesh Thakur, owner of the NGO which ran the home, and around 20 people were named as accused in the CBI’s chargesheet. The ED had filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking cognisance of the CBI FIR.
