ED probes NGO's finance in Muzaffarpur horror case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing a Bihar NGO associated with the Muzaffarpur horror as it used to receive Rs 36 lakh per annum of government funds, an agency official said.

Following a thorough examination over the last two months, the ED has now launched a probe into the financial aspect of the crime that originally involved sexual assault on at least 34 girl inmates at the short stay home.

The finance probe agency is inquiring into the operations of NGO Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti which had been running the shelter home since 2013.

It has been alleged that the main accused Brajesh Thakur had managed to get his close relatives to become part of the NGO's governing body using fraudulent means.

Thakur was only a patron, not an office-bearer of the NGO.

As the investigations are underway, the NGO's accounts have been frozen and its governing body members have been directed not to dispose of any of its assets.

The organisation has also been blacklisted by the state government.

The Income Tax Department is also conducting a probe involving Thakur and his NGO to find out details of their assets and expenditure of Rs 4.5 crore granted by Bihar government in the last decade.

The sexual abuse of at least 34 of the 41 girl inmates housed at the shelter home came to light during a social audit by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai in May.

An FIR was lodged against 11 people, including Thakur, on May 31. The probe was later taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

--IANS

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