Dhenkanal: Police Sunday launched an investigation to verify the citizenship status of tainted shelter home Dream Centre’s chairman Fayaz Raheman who has reportedly taken US citizenship.
The shelter home operated by an NGO, Good News India, was Sunday sealed at Beltikiri village under Sadar police limits in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse of its minor inmates.
Raheman (63), who is the chairman of the NGO and the shelter home, was arrested along with his associate officer Udit Kumar Lima (46) and project director Seemanchal Nayak (39) Sunday. Police suspecting that Raheman and his family members might have taken US citizenship have started an investigation.
The action came two days after District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) Anuradha Goswami and members of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) raided the shelter home, acting on media reports which stated that girls were being abused at the facility.
“The private home, which has been operating illegally at Beltikiri area, was shut down by the police in presence of Dhenkanal Sadar Tehsildar UK Mohapatra and the DCPO,” a district official said.
The girls at the home had alleged that they were harassed sexually, physically and mentally by Seemanchal over the past two years.
Seemanchal has, however, denied the allegations and said they had done so as he had tried to enforce discipline at the shelter home.
Meanwhile, all 94 inmates of the shelter home have been shifted to two childcare institutions – Maharshi Dayananda Service Mission at Kathagada here and in Gobindpur, Mohapatra said.
Police has registered two cases under POCSO Act and other sections of IPC against the three accused. The accused were produced in a court and remanded in judicial custody after their bail pleas were rejected, SDPO Sk Abdul Karim said.
Preliminary probe indicated that the NGO had 28 branches including 20 in the state, seven in West Bengal and one in Jharkhand.
SP Santosh Kumar Nayak said Raheman having his residence at 30-Mainroad lane under Park Street police limits in Kolkata is currently living at Anantapur near Phulnakhara under Sadar police limits in Cuttack district. It is suspected that he might have taken US citizenship as his family members are living in America. The other accused Seemanchal is a native of Khaliamunda under Madanpur-Rampur police limits in Kalahandi district and Udit is a resident of Parisol under Ramagiri police limits in Gajapati district.
Women and Child Development Minister (WCD) Prafulla Samal had Saturday described the centre “unregistered and illegal”, ordering its immediate closure. Asserting that strict action would be taken against the offenders, he said District Collectors across the state have been asked to shut down all 22 branches of the shelter home, operated by NGO Good News India.
Meanwhile, a fact-finding team of the state BJP, led by its women’s wing president Prabhati Parida, visited Beltikiri Sunday to assess the situation.
The team interacted with the locals to find out the modus operandi of the shelter home, sources in the party said.
Earlier this year, the Central government directed all states to inspect shelter homes in the aftermath of two alleged sexual abuse cases in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
As many as 539 childcare institutions were shut down by the Union Women and Child Development Ministry in different parts of the country for various irregularities.
Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan said all the shifted inmates have been kept separately while arrangements have been made for half-yearly examinations of seven children. Their parents have been contacted while the administration is laying stress on the safety and the education of the children.
PNN