Muzaffarpur home rape case: CBI quizzes ex-minister Damodar

PATNA: A day after the CBI raid and interrogation of former state social welfare minister Manju Verma, the central agency quizzed another former minister, Damodar Rawat, for several hours at his Jamui residence late on Saturday for his alleged close connections with Brajesh Thakur, who is the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur government children home rape case.
Within hours of his interrogation, JD(U) suspended Damodar’s son Rajeev Rawat, who was the party’s state youth wing general secretary.
Rawat was state social welfare department minister and three times MLA from Jhajha in Jamui district. He had lost the 2015 assembly election to BJP’s Rabindra Yadav. However, Damodar on Sunday told mediapersons that he had no connections with Brajesh.
CBI sources said Rajeev was one of the frequent visitors to ‘RM Palace’, the hotel owned by Brajesh on Sahu Road in Muzaffarpur from where the central agency had seized register and files during its raid on Friday. “Damodar had also made favours to Brajesh during his tenure as a minister,” CBI sources said, adding Rajeev would also be quizzed soon.
“The logbooks revealed that Rajeev had visited Brajesh’s hotel several times in the last couple of years,” CBI sources said, but refused to disclose who others had been among the frequent visitors to the hotel. Brajesh’s NGO Seva Sankalp Ewam Vikas Samiti managed the government-funded children home at Muzaffarpur where at least 34 minor girls were allegedly raped. The shelter building is near the hotel.
Meanwhile, leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav demanded action against Damodar. “Nitish ji, don’t make his son scapegoat for the wrongdoings of his father. The father spent government funds when he was the minister of social welfare department, not the son. Tell us soon, would you remove your good friend from the party after suspending his son,” Tejashwi tweeted on Sunday.
Rawat is the second politician in the state who has been quizzed by the CBI after it took over the Muzaffarpur sex scandal investigation on July 28. Manju had to resign as minister on August 8 after her husband Chandeshwar Verma’s alleged telephonic conversations with Brajesh. She was also interrogated by the CBI on Friday. Several documents and files were seized from her official residence in Patna at Sripur in Begusarai district.
Though the state government had recommended for the CBI probe, the Muzaffarpur police hurriedly submitted a chargesheet before a special POCSO court in the case against ten accused, including Brajesh, on July 26.