CBI Freezes Brajesh Thakur's Bank Accounts In Bihar Shelter Home Case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has frozen 20 bank accounts belonging to Brajesh Thakur, the main accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case.

The move comes close on the heels of the probe agency detaining four people -- including a former official of the Bihar Social Welfare Department -- in this regard. Ten people have been arrested so far.

The case pertains to the alleged sexual exploitation of over 30 girls at a shelter run by Brajesh Thakur. The matter came to light through a report submitted by the Mumbai-based Tata Institute Of Social Sciences (TISS) to the state's Social Welfare Department. The resultant controversy put the Bihar government on the backfoot, with Opposition parties alleging the culpability of people close to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and the case was handed over to the CBI for investigation.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court had ended an embargo on reporting the case with a rider that the media exercise restraint and desist from sensationalising such news.

The Patna High Court had banned media coverage of the case last month, expressing displeasure over the manner in which details of the investigation had been leaked. A journalist challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, contending that the the media had played a "proactive role" in exposing the incident. In her plea filed in the top court, she claimed that there was no material before the high court suggesting that media reportage could hamper the ongoing investigation in the case.