Patna: The Bihar Director General of Police, K S Dwivedi, on Tuesday said there was no need for a CBI probe into the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault case, a demand made by opposition RJD, but confirmed that medical examinations of 29 of 42 inmates have found that they were sexually exploited.
Two inmates could not undergo the medical test as they were unwell, he told a press conference in Patna.
"I am fully satisfied with the progress of police investigation into the case so far and no CBI investigation is needed," the police chief said, adding 10 accused have already been arrested and efforts are underway to nab an absconder.
Opposition RJD had raised the issue of alleged sexual exploitation of girls in the state-funded shelter home in the state assembly and legislative council yesterday and demanded a CBI inquiry into it.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the scandal involved many "well connected people" whom the Nitish Kumar government was trying to shield.
Opposition leader in the Legislative Council Rabri Devi too raised the issue in the Upper House.
The DGP said three inmates had alleged that a girl had been killed and buried on the campus of the shelter home after she resisted sexual exploitation, but that no mortal remains were found when the place was excavated yesterday on a court's permission.
He said services of a sniffer dog was also taken to find out if there was any body buried nearby, but that it too yielded no positive result. However, soil sample from the place has been sent for forensic tests, he said.
The identity of the inmate allegedly killed and buried is not available as the complainants were not able to provide it, he said.
The DGP said as per the current records of the shelter home, only one inmate is missing and she has since been traced by the police.
As far as the cases of four inmates said to have earlier run away and death of three others are concerned, he said, they were being verified.
Speaking at the same press conference, the Principal Secretary, the Social Welfare Department, Atul Prasad said the state government had itself got a social audit done by the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences and had taken prompt action on its report about sexual exploitation of inmates.
"Details were not disclosed at the very outset as taking effective action against those involved would not have been possible," he claimed.
Muzaffarpur Senior Superintendent of Police Harpreet Kaur had told PTI yesterday that the excavation was conducted in presence of all the three complainants, who were girls in the age group of 10 to 12 years.
The state-funded shelter home was sealed in June when an FIR was lodged in the light of a social audit report which suggested that the inmates were being sexually exploited. Its premises were also sealed.
The NGO running the shelter home has been blacklisted and the inmates have been shifted to shelter homes in other districts.
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