PATNA: Brajesh Thakur, the main accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuses case, was on Thursday shifted to the Bhagalpur jail from the Muzaffarpur jail at the request of CBI to prevent him from trying to influence witnesses.
CBI, which is investigating the case pertaining to the sexual abuses of minor girls lodged at a shelter home run by Thakur’s NGO, had reportedly informed Bihar police that he was trying to influence witnesses in the case. Muzaffarpur is Thakur’s hometown, and he has been lodged in the Shaheed Khudiram Bose Central Jail in the town since June 27. He was arrested on June 3.
“The step was taken after CBI officials probing the case informed that Thakur had been trying to hamper the investigation from inside the jail. He had managed a few jail employees and was misusing the facilities in the jail,” said an official of Bihar’s prisons department.
During a surprise raid on the Muzaffarpur jail by the district police in August, Thakur was found to be walking in the visitors’ area and living in the comfort of the jail hospital without any permission or reason. Two pages of handwritten notes seized from him reportedly contained the phone numbers of several influential people, including some politicians.
Although he was arrested on June 3, Thakur had managed to stay at the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital till June 27. He was shifted to jail after the Opposition parties raised the issue.
After receiving CBI’s formal request for transferring Thakur to another jail, the state police headquarters passed an order to the prison department to shift him, said sources. IG (jail) Mithilesh Mishra described the transfer as part of an “administrative process”.
Fourteen other accused in the case lodged in the Muzaffarpur jail were also simultaneously shifted to Patna’s Beur Central Jail. They include child protection officer Roushan Kumar and Rosy Rani, the assistant director of social welfare department.
At least 34 minor girls residing at the state government-funded shelter home run by Thakur’s NGO were found to have been repeatedly sexually abused. The matter came to light in May in the report of an audit of shelters in Bihar by Tata Institute of Medical Sciences (TISS).