Muzaffarpur case: Brajesh Thakur's close aide may reveal names of several officials to CBI

Muzaffarpur: Madhu, a close aide of Brajesh Thakur who is the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal case, appeared before the CBI on Tuesday. Of the several details disclosed by Madhu, there may be names of some top officials too. She is likely to get a relief from CBI as she surrendered herself in connection with the case.

During the interrogation, she claimed that she was not aware of what happened at the shelter home. CBI is said to have proofs of Madhu visiting the Muzaffarpur shelter home where girls were allegedly raped.

Surrendering in the case, Madhu said she has only come to meet CBI officials as the investigators visited her residence several times which had caused inconvenience to her family members. "I have nothing to fear as I was not even associated with the shelter home which is under the scanner. I did work for Thakur but I have no knowledge of what happened there," Madhu said.

She also assured that she will cooperate fully in the interrogation. "I am ready to extend full cooperation to the CBI, though I am privy to no secrets. I cannot say whether Thakur was involved in any illegal activities. Although I also handled the affairs of some of his newspapers, I deny reports that I used to liaison with ministers and other VIPs to promote Thakur's business," she said. 

CBI officials took her inside their camp office located in the district court premises in Muzaffarpur. She was accompanied by her lawyers.

She dismissed reports of her hiding in Nepal and asserted that she was in Bihar itself. 
"I had no reason to hide. The reason I have now chosen to appear before the CBI is that recently the investigators have visited my residence a number of times and this was causing inconvenience to my family members," she said.

Madhu, who was earlier known as Shaista, was a resident of Chaturbhuj Sthan locality in the town and had come in contact with Thakur a few years back when a drive was launched to rehabilitate girls from a red light area there.

Media reports claimed that she used to manage the affairs of all NGOs owned by Thakur, including the Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti, which ran the shelter home where inmates were sexually abused.

The issue was first highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to the state's social welfare department.

An FIR was lodged on May 31 against 11 people, including Thakur, who was running the shelter home. The probe was later taken over by the CBI and so far 17 people including Thakur have been arrested.