Minor Boy Missing From Ashram In Dhenkanal

Dhenkanal: Police are on the hunt for a 10-year-old boy from an ashram on the outskirts of Dhenkanal. He went on missing on Wednesday.

According to reports, the minor, Chhotu Rohit Das of Gadaposa area under Rajgangpur police limits in Sundargarh district was living at the Kalpataru Ashram (also known as Baya Vihar) at Govindpur on the outskirts of Dhenkanal town since the last few years.

His parents, who were in constant touch with their son, did not find their son when they arrived at the ashram on Wednesday. They lodged a complaint at the Sadar Police Station.
“The manager had severely beaten up my son. He might have died. I want a detailed information,” said the mother in her complaint.

Acting on the complaint, a team of the Sadar Police went to the ashram on Thursday with a sniffer dog to trace the boy. In the course of investigation, police came to know that the manager of the ashram, Murari Das was also absconding since January 23.

Talking to the mediapersons, other boys of the ashram said that the manager had assigned Chhotu do clean the cowshed on Tuesday. But as he could not perform his duty properly, he was beaten black and blue by Das. They also told the media that Das was in the habit of thrashing them for minor mistakes.

However, the boys could not tell the police about Chhotu’s whereabouts.

Sources in the locality said that Das was running the ashram illegally. The minor boys are engaged in sankirtan and other works.