This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The founder of a celebrated Indian NGO that provides shelter to couples in interfaith or intercaste relationships has been arrested on suspicion of extorting and confining people in his care.

Love Commandos, co-founded by the activist Sanjoy Sachdev in 2010, has been the subject of international documentaries and celebrity fundraising campaigns for its work providing safe houses to Indian couples at risk of being murdered by their families in so-called “honour” killings.

It is said to have rescued thousands of couples who have been threatened by their families for falling in love with someone outside their caste, religion or who are rejected by their parents for other reasons.

On Tuesday, police commenced a criminal investigation against Sachdev, 58, on allegations of extortion, intimidation and confinement. He was arrested outside the organisation’s shelter in Delhi.

The arrest followed a raid on the shelter by the Delhi commission for women. “Two women came to us complaining and crying,” said Swati Maliwal, chairwoman of the commission. “We visited the shelter home and found it in a horrible condition.”

She said two couples in the premises had claimed their identity documents had been taken away, that they have been forced work and asked to provide money. “They were told: ‘If you leave we’ll call your parents and tell them your whereabouts’,” Maliwal said.

The couples accused Sachdev of drinking alcohol on the premises and pressuring the men to join in, Maliwal added.

Sachdev is yet to be presented before court. His lawyers have been approached for comment.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Swati Maliwal of the Delhi commission for women: ‘We visited the shelter home and found it in a horrible condition.’ Photograph: Biplab Banerjee/The Observer

Abuse and poor conditions have been discovered at dozens of shelter homes across India in the past year, sparking protests and calls for better regulation.

Maliwal said the Love Commandos shelter was not registered under any legislation and was not subject to inspections. But neither the state nor the central governments provided any shelters for couples fleeing their families, leaving the commission in a bind, she said.

“It was very complicated for us yesterday because we rescued these couples – who have been the subject of direct threats of honour killings from their families. We didn’t know where to send them,” she said. “There is no other shelter home.”

There were 69 “honour” killings in India in 2016 according to the country’s National Crime Records Bureau, the most recent year for which data is available.

But the true rate is thought to be much higher, exacerbated by deeply patriarchal values and strong community systems based on caste and religion.