12 kids flee Ruchika shelter home by breaking open bathroom skylight

Bhubaneswar: Twelve children of Ruchika open shelter in Bhubaneswar have fled the shelter home after breaking open the bathroom skylight late night on May 1. A complaint regarding this was lodged by the Ruchika shelter home authorities at the Lingaraj police station on Wednesday.

Though a total of 12 kids had fled the home on May 1, one of them was caught at the Bhubaneswar railway station during a search. Rest of the children are yet to be traced.

Sources said the Child Welfare Committee members are counselling the kid caught from of the railway station to elicit information under what circumstances and how the 12 kids hatched the plan to flee.

A Bangladeshi kid, who had fled from a Jatni-based shelter home few days back and later kept at the Ruchika open shelter after being nabbed, is among the 11 kids and suspected to be the mastermind behind the plan.

An inmate of the shelter home said, "Few days back, I had overheard them saying that it has been long time they are at the shelter home."

Meanwhile, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) directed authorities of the Ruchika open shelter to submit a report on the incident within two days.

Commenting on the matter, Benudhar Senapati, CWC member, said, "The Ruchika open shelter will be directed to install CCTV cameras in the premises. Besides, a written explanation has been sought from the shelter home regarding the circumstances under which the kids fled."

The Khurda Collector has also started an inquiry into the incident.