Good News India Not Registered In Odisha: Police

Dhenkanal: Amid allegations of sexual abuse of minor girls at a shelter home in Dhenkanal district, the police on Wednesday said that the NGO, Good News India, was not registered in Odisha.

The shelter home was being run by this NGO.

“The NGO, registered in West Bengal under the Bengal Society Registration Act, had not been able to produce any document regarding its registration in Odisha,” Dhenkanal SP Santosh Nayak informed the media on Wednesday.

Since the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) solely looked after registration of the NGOs in the state, the SP had a discussion with him regarding the future course of action against Good News India.

The SP further said that the police had verified the documents of the NGO regarding central registration for overseas funding. They also checked other documents relatied to the utilization certificate, the audit report and the filing of Income Tax returns. “The NGO receives overseas fund to the tune of Rs 15-Rs 16 crore every year and utilizes the money for maintenance of the shelter homes, construction of new shelter homes and purchase of land in Odisha to set up its infrastructure. The annual audit report related to the collection of fund received from local and overseas sources and the expenditure of the NGO is prepared by a chartered accountant Firm in Kolkata,” he pointed out.

Referring to the video clippings of Duban (a ritual performed for conversion to Christianity) being telecast on different electronic media, the SP said that the rituals were not performed at any shelter home in Odisha. “Police have the information that it was instead performed by the NGO at its shelter home at Salgadia in West Bengal. To ascertain the veracity of the incident, a team will be sent to the neighbouring state,” he added.

According to the report of the investigating officer, there was little doubt that the minor girls and boys of the shelter home in Dhenkanal had been sexually abused, the SP said.

“Police have recorded the statements of the minor children in presence of the District Magistrate as evidence,” he noted.

Asked whether there was a need to further interrogate the managing director, Fayaz Rahman, the SP said since the NGO had links with other districts of Odisha, the neighbouring states as well as foreign countries, police will pray the Special POCSO court to allow them to take him on a fresh remand of 2 to 3 days.

“We will interrogate the director of the Dhenkanal shelter home, Simanchal Nayak, today. We are hopeful of getting more information from him. On the basis of it, we will pray the court to take Rahman on a fresh remand to verify the facts,” the SP said.

As directed by the court, police will produce Rahman in the court today as his two-day remand period will get over at 5 pm.