Dhenkanal: A 10-year-old boy from an ashram on the outskirts of Dhenkanal who had gone missing since January 23, was rescued by the Sadar Police on Saturday.
According to reports, the manager of the Kalpataru Ashram, Murari Das had asked the minor boy, Chhotu Rohit Das of Gadaposa area under Rajgangpur police limits in Sundargarh district to clean the cowshed and give fodder to the cows. But as he could not do his work properly, Das severely thrashed him. He thrashed him again as the boy had not put a tilak on his forehead. Later, the terrified boy ran out of the ashram and reached the Dhenkanal railway station about 10 km from the ashram where the owner of a roadside hotel near the railway station gave him the shelter after listening to his ordeal.
The hotel owner later informed the police, who rescued the boy and handed him to his parents. Police later conducted a medical examination of the boy who has been temporarily kept at the Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati Open Shelter Home.
Briefing mediapersons later in the day, Dhenkanal collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan said as per
the report of the District Child Welfare Committee, the ashram is not registered. “The district administration will rehabilitate the ashram inmates and initiate stern action against the manager,” he added.
Meanwhile, parents and guardians have taken their wards from the ashram following the
incident. Police have begun a manhunt to nab the absconding manager.
Reports said that Das had encroached upon government land illegally and set up the ashram with the help of some influential persons of Dhenkanal town.
