Missing shelter home kids were converted: Cops
JAMSHEDPUR: An FIR has been lodged with the Chaibasa police in West Singhbhum district in connection with a case where 30 children from Jharkhand went missing from a shelter home in Punjab’s Ludhiana district, police said on Tuesday.
The complaint filed before the anti-human trafficking of the Chaibasa police also accused the Ludhiana-based Paskin Mary Cross Child Shelter Home of converting the children to Christianity, police said.
The FIR has accused Paskin shelter home owner Satyendra Prasad Musa and Junal Longa, a resident of Seengda village under Gudri police station, of converting the faith of 34 children, mostly girls in the age group of 5 to 13, from different districts of Jharkhand and keeping them in the Ludhiana shelter home.
“Investigation has revealed that the shelter home was not registered. We have also collected evidence of conversion and the inhuman condition under which the kids were kept,” said Prakash Soy, Chaibasa sadar sub-divisional police officer (SDPO).
Police said the FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint by Chaibasa child welfare committee member Jyotsna Tirkey on Sunday and a copy of the same has been sent to authorities in Ludhiana, implying that arrest of Musa was now imminent.
Banarasi Ram, the sub-inspector leading the special team of West Singhbhum police in Ludhiana, confirmed having found evidence of conversion. “The kids have been converted. We have collected evidence to this effect,” said Ram over the phone.
Meanwhile, Ludhiana deputy commissioner (DC), Dr Pradeep Kumar Agrawal, ordered a magisterial inquiry into the disappearance of 30 children. The inquiry will ascertain if proper procedure was followed in releasing these kids from the home, to whom they have been handed over and why.
“Out of 38 children in the home, only eight could be rescued so far and shifted to a government registered home in Ludhiana while the rest 30 are yet to be traced,” additional deputy commissioner (ADC, development) Shena Aggarwal is probing the matter,” Dr Agrawal said over phone on Tuesday.
The Jharkhand police had told the local administration that there were 38 children at the Paskin shelter home in Phullanwal, following which on August 20 a team of Jharkhand police along with the local cops had raided the place and rescued eight children.
Musa had claimed that he had handed over the 30 children to their respective parents. Police termed the claim as baseless.
Ludhiana CWC, in joint operation with Jharkhand police, has seized documents from the Paskin Mary Cross Home, confirming illegal conversion, torture and child labour, police said.
“We have been able to find few photos, records of only 30-40 children from the shelter home though about 300-400 children stayed and passed out from there during past 10 years. As per the documents seized, every child came here on the basis of written undertaking of oath on Bible,” a member of the Ludhiana child welfare committee said over phone.