Muzaffarpur shelter home case: CBI tells SC that it is probing murder of 10 girls

NEW DELHI: In a startling revelation in Muzaffarpur shelter home rape-cum-murder case, the CBI has informed the Supreme Court that it is conducting probe into disappearance of 11 girls from the home who were allegedly murdered by main accused Brajesh Thakur.
In an affidavit filed in the court, the CBI said that rape victims gave the name of 11 girls which they claimed to be killed by Thakur and it was verifying the allegation.The agency admitted that it excavated a bundle of bones from a spot where a girl in Muzaffarpur shelter home was buried after being killed by the accused but said it had not invoked murder charges against him as the probe was still going on.
“The victims during there examination in the presence of experts of NIMHANS had revealed names of 11 girls who were allegedly murdered by Brajesh Thakur and his accomplices. These allegations are being duly investigated in the right earnest in the instant case by scrutinising the Master Register maintained at the Balikagrih to locate the dead body, field level verification as to existence of the girls alleged to be murdered,” the affidavit said.
The agency said that on scrutiny of the details of these 11 girls entered in the Master Register, it was found that there were 35 girls with identical/similar names, who at one time or the other stayed at the Balikagrih. Refuting the allegation that it was trying to protect the influential people involved in the heinous crime by not invoking murder charges against the accused, the CBI in its affidavit said that the probe was still going on to identify the victims and the allegation is “entirely misconceived and premature”.
The agency filed the affidavit on an application of social activist Nivedita Jha alleging that the CBI was also trying to protect Thakur and other accused in the case by not slapping murder charges against them despite the statements of victims. The petition, filed through advocate Fauzia Shakil, said the investigation conducted by the CBI was not only “incomplete but ex-facie also appeared to be hogwash”.
Countering the allegation that it had not booked outsiders who had visited the shelterhome and raped the victims, the affidavit said, “All efforts were made to trace the perpetrators of crime. After ascertaining identity of perpetrators through proper investigation, chargesheet has been filed against them. Investigations regarding the outsiders has been properly carried out and chargesheet had been filed against all such persons.”
The petitioner had alleged that victims had allegedly recorded their statements before the Judicial Magistrate and had made reference to one “tondwale uncle Netaji” (uncle with paunch) and also to one “moochwale uncle ji” (uncle with moustache) who used to visit the shelter home but the agency had not find them out.
“It is evident from the statement of the victims, that a large scale prostitution racket was being run by Brajesh Thakur. From the perusal of the chargesheet, it is apparent that the CBI is trying to shield the real perpetrators and has intentionally avoided to investigate the leads given by the victims about the outsiders and the alleged friends of Thakur who were involved in the offence. It is unclear from a perusal of the chargesheet whether identity sketches have been prepared by the CBI on the basis of the physical description of the perpetrators given by the victims,” the petition said.