india

Updated: Sep 25, 2019 12:32 IST

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday provisionally attached immovable properties worth over crores in connection with Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case.

The 12 attached properties include a hotel owned by prime accused Brajesh Thakur and his family. The central agency also pasted notices on the seized properties.

According to officials, a six-member ED team comprising Mushari circle officer Nagendra Kumar reached Sahu Road around 2pm and attached three properties, including the shelter home building run as a NGO called Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti.

Later, the team visited RN Palace Hotel and attached it. The team also attached the building of Swadhar Grih at Bharat Mata Lane and pasted notice on it. Two other properties at Jawaharlal Road and Ram Bag under Town and Mithanpura police stations limits respectively have also been taken into possession. The ED team is likely to visit Thakur’s ancestral village Panchdahi under Sakra police station area on Wednesday.

The government-funded shelter home for destitute girls on Sahu Road was a horror house. Of the 42 girls housed in there, medical examination confirmed sexual assault on 34. The state government had outsourced the guardian’s job to Thakur’s NGOs, although it had questionable credentials in 2013. The rape and sexual abuse continued till May 31, 2018 when the girls were shifted out to other shelters.

In its affidavit filed by CBI in the Supreme Court, the central probe agency revealed that 11 girls were allegedly murdered by key accused Brajesh and his accomplices and “bundle of bones” recovered from a burial ground in the Muzaffarpur shelter home. The CBI stated that from the statement of victims recorded during the probe, names of 11 girls have emerged, who were said to be allegedly murdered by Thakur and his accomplices.

On March 13, the ED attached properties, including 26 plots of land, three vehicles, balance in 37 bank accounts and investments in mutual funds and insurance policies worth ₹7.30 crore, all owned by Brajesh and his family.

According to the ED, Brajesh was the de-facto owner of the shelter home. ED’s investigation under PMLA was initiated on the basis of charge sheets filed by the CBI and the Woman police station in Muzaffarpur.