Shelter home rapes: Why Bihar against CBI probe, asks Tejashwi
Patna, July 25: An opposition delegation led by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday alleged that the Bihar government is trying to save the main accused in the rape case involving dozen minor girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur.
The delegation made the observation after visiting Muzaffarpur to assess the ongoing police probe. The delegation members discussed the case with district officials associated with the probe.
"We are looking into whether the probe is moving in the right direction or not. The state government is trying to suppress the case facts to save the main accused," said Tejashwi, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
Tejashwi reiterated that the accused had links with the ruling Janata Dal-United, Bharatiya Janata Party and government officials.
"The government is trying to save the accused. Why is police not taking main accused Brijesh Thakur on remand to interrogate him?" he asked.
The former Deputy Chief Minister said that his Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and Hindustani Awam Morcha of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi -- all partners in the Grand Alliance -- have already demanded a Patna High Court monitored CBI probe into the case.
"If Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is ready for a CBI probe, why is the state reluctant to recommend it," the opposition leader remarked.
RJD leaders and supporters raised the issue of shelter home rapes both inside and outside the Assembly here on Wednesday.
Amid growing demands for a CBI probe, Bihar Police chief K.S. Dwivedi on Tuesday said that there was no need since the police probe is satisfactory.
Muzaffarpur Senior Superintendent of Police Harpreet Kaur said that the shelter home had been sealed after cases of sexual abuse came to light during a social audit by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Last week, medical examination of 44 shelter home inmates revealed that 21 were raped. The district police has arrested an official but the main accused are still out.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
