Dhenkanal: Dhenkanal Sadar Police Thursday took Fayaz Rahman, managing director (MD) of Good News India, an NGO on fresh remand of two days for further questioning in connection with the alleged sexual harassment of minor girls and boys at a shelter home in the district.
After completion of the two-day remand period, police had produced Rahman before the Special POCSO Court Wednesday. Though the investigation is underway, police appealed the court for a fresh three-day remand of Rahman to which the court granted them two days.
Speaking to media, Dhenkanal Superintendent of Police (SP) Santosh Nayak said during the two-day remand, police have extracted vital information from Rahman.
“If police manage to collect more information from him, they will appeal the court to take the two arrested employees of the NGO, project director and in-charge of the shelter home Simanchal Naik, and assistant director Udit Kumar Lima- on remand for interrogation towards verifying facts,” he added.
Reportedly, Naik was being interrogated by the SP at Dhenkanal jail Wednesday evening.
Regarding the 11 missing girls of the shelter home, the SP said the police have got to know the whereabouts of 10 of them, who are currently in Odisha, while efforts are on to trace the remaining.
Police sources said Rahman would be grilled about the accusations of sexual harassment of the minor girls at the shelter home and involvement of his NGO in alleged religious conversion.
The police will also try to ascertain Rahman’s foreign links and details about permission he had obtained to set up shelter homes at 22 places in the state. He will also be asked about his source of funding, sources said.
Rahman originally hailed from Kolkata and had later obtained US citizenship. He is a Christianity convert, the police said.
Police had arrested Simanchal Naik, Udit Lima and Rahman after allegations of sexual abuse of girl inmates at the shelter home in Beltikiri village surfaced in the media.
The girl inmates of the shelter home alleged that they were harassed sexually, physically and mentally by Naik and Rahman over the past two years.
PNN
