The Supreme Court on Monday directed the CBI to complete its probe into the facts unearthed last week that eleven girls were murdered by Brajesh Thakur, prime accused of rape and abuse of children in his Muzaffarpur shelter home in Bihar.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi asked the premier investigating agency to file a status report on the probe into the alleged killings by June 3, the next date of hearing. “This is an extremely urgent matter,” the CJI remarked.  He said the matter should be heard soon and initially asked the CBI to complete its probe by May 20 However, Attorney General K K Venugopal objected, saying that it would not be possible to complete the investigation by May 20. The court finally, in its order, urged the CBI to take “all necessary action in accordance with the law” and file a status report.

The agency got wind of the alleged murders from the rescued children. The names of these girls, who have mysteriously disappeared from the balikagrah (girls’ home), emerged in the multiple statements of the children. The children said these 11 girls were murdered by Thakur and his accomplices.

In its seventh status report to the Supreme Court, the CBI, who is facing allegations that its probe into the grizzly case is a “hogwash”, said a scrutiny of the girls’ home register at Muzaffarpur has so far revealed that a total of 35 girls with identical or similar had lived there at one point of time or the other. A “field-level verification” about the existence of these girls is also underway.

The agency has also revealed how one of the accused, Guddu Patel, led them to a “particular spot in a burial ground”.

—India Legal Bureau