Kendrapada: Four children were rescued by police and district child protection officer on Monday from an illegally-run orphanage at Alakunda village under Binjharpur police limits in Jajpur district. Manager of the orphanage was arrested.
The arrested man, Dusmanta Das, had been running the illegal Baladevjew Seva Ashram since long. The rescued children have been lodged with the Juvenile Justice Board. “The raid was conducted on the instructions of the district administration. We sealed the illegal orphanage,” said district child protection officer (DCPO), Jajpur, Niranjan Kar.
As per our preliminary investigation, the orphanage was established in 1989 at Alakunda village. “Its registration expired in 2023. But without renewing the registration, Das was illegally running the orphanage ignoring the repeated notices from the district administration,” added Kar.
The DCPO filed an FIR against Das on Sunday that led to the raid. Police seized some incriminating documents during the raid. The accused was produced in court that rejected his bail plea. “More persons will be arrested in this case,” said IIC, Binjharpur police station, Debashis Satapathy.