Four boys flee Deoria's government shelter home

GORAKHPUR: Four teens escaped from state government's child shelter home for boys in Kotwali police station area of Deoria district at around 3am on Saturday. The shelter home superintendent said that the frame of the iron grille of a window was found forced open and Kotwali police were instantly informed. The boys had not been traced till last reports came in.
The boys who ran away from the shelter home, Rajkiya Balgrih Balak, Deoria, include, Abhai Verma (16) of Azamgarh district, Karan Yadav (14), a resident of Barhalganj, Gorakhpur, Shravan (15), a resident of Kotwali, Gorakhpur, and Barkat Ali (16), whose address is not known.
It is the same shelter home where 20 woman inmates of the infamous Deoria shelter home case were kept for some days after being rescued. "Today morning, the guard of shelter home informed me about four boys being missing. We suspect that they escaped between 2am and 3am. We found the window at the back of shelter home broken. Kotwali police have been informed and they have initiated probe," said shelter home superintendent, Yashodanand Tiwari.
On Friday night, two caretakers Harendra Rai and Vishal, and home guard Mahendra Yadav were on duty while one home guard was on leave, said Tiwari. District probation officer Prabhat Kumar said, " Four boys have escaped from the shelter home. A probe has been initiated."
"Among the boys, Abhai Verma was handed over to us as he had the habit of stealing things. We enrolled him in Government Inter College, and he was a regular student of class 9. Shravan's parents had left him here two years ago, with his brother Chandan, who is still here. Snehalay Khula Ashray, an organization at Padri Bazar, Gorakhpur, had handed over Karan and Barkat to us two years ago," Tiwari said.
Earlier, an inmate Chhotu (15) had escaped from the shelter around two years ago. In August 2018, 20 inmates rescued from Deoria shelter home following reports of their exploitation had been kept temporarily at the facility.
"They were kept here for four days till alternative arrangements were made for them at shelter homes in adjoining districts," said superintendent Tiwari.