**Bhubaneswar:** Addressing a press conference here, Manoj Swain, secretary of charitable organisation Society For Children (SOCH) demanded a high level probe in 16-year-old Bangladeshi migrant torture case.
He also refuted allegations of demanding money from the ‘Asha Kiran’ foundation.
Speaking to OMMCOM NEWS, Swain said, “We were working on a project together where we paid them more than Rs 5 lakh. Now as we have seen how they torture their inmates, we decided to pull back from the project and asked them to return the unspent amount of money which we gave them.”
He also alleged that Khurda CWC member Benudhar Senapati was trying to dilute the case as he has ‘vested interest’ in it.
He said, “Many guidelines have been violated in appointing Benudhar Senapati as the CWC member. He should immediately resign from the CWC and an independent and impartial investigation should be ordered in this case.”
Defending himself, Senapati said, “They are the ones who have violated the government norms. They sent a message demanding money from the concerned NGO. How can they blackmail them using the child. We have no objection with a high level inquiry. In fact we have demanded a high level probe ourselves.”
Earlier, a 16-year-old Bangladeshi migrant was rescued by the NGO SOCH in Puri. The boy alleged that he was physically tortured in ‘Asha Kiran’, a city-based NGO, where he was staying,
Reacting to this, Khurda CWC said that it was a conspiracy to malign the image of the child shelter home.
Speaking to some journalists, CWC member Benudhar Senapati alleged that Manoj Swain and ‘Soch’, had sent messages to Asha Kiran director demanding ransom of Rs 1 lakh.