'Previous govts to blame for shelter home irregularities'

Uttar Pradesh Women and Child Welfare Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi on Tuesday blamed the former governments in the state for all the irregularities that took place in the shelter homes.

Addressing the media here, Joshi said, "Those parties are turning this matter into a political one, under whose regime these shelter homes grew."

She further assured that state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is monitoring the situation and said that culprits will not be spared.

"It was either negligence or connivance, it will be decided when the reports come in. CM is monitoring this. He is very firm that those responsible will not be spared," she added.

On Sunday, the police had rescued 24 girls from a shelter home in eastern Uttar Pradesh's Deoria and arrested a couple, who were running the facility. The incident came to light after a girl escaped from the shelter house and informed police about the ill-treatment given to the inmates.

The chief minister ordered the removal of Deoria's District Magistrate (DM) Sujit Kumar and suspension of former district police officers (DPOs) Neeraj Kumar and Abhishek Pandey for not taking action on shutting down the shelter house.

--ANI