Another girl files complaint against Bhuriwale Dham head

After an obscene video of Shankara Nand, chief of Bhuriwale Dham, located in Talwandi Khurd village near Dakha in the district, went viral and a case registered against the dera head, another complaint has been lodged against the dera head by a girl who grew up in the dera’s orphanage. The girl alleged assault and mental torture of children living in the orphanage being run by the dera. The complaint was submitted to Assistant Commissioner Payal Goyal, who marked a probe in the case. The accused baba is absconding since the case came to light.

According to information, the girl, along with some people of Talwandi Khurd and nearby villages, met the officer demanding the arrest of the dera head. The girl also met Ludhiana SSP Ankur Gupta to seek a high-level probe in the case.

The girl alleged that the children in the orphanage were being treated inhumanly. She herself was exploited and beaten up. She has urged the administration to close the dera and save the children living there.

Harbans Singh of Talwandi Kalan village, who accompanied the girl, said that the allegations against the dera were true as children were often beaten up. “Some children used to flee the orphanage and come to our village for shelter, but the dera people would come looking for them and take them back to the dera by beating them up.”

He alleged in the name of donation, the dera head would get FDs issued in the name of the children, but later got these changed and the money transferred to his personal bank accounts. A high-level inquiry should be done by CBI to unearth the racket, he added.

Other villagers accompanying the girl claimed that the accused had been enjoying a special status in society and among those in power by projecting philanthropic work. He had been running an international NGO for orphans, abandoned and differently-abled children, many of whom were adopted by childless couples, including families from foreign countries.

Meanwhile, sources said the Child Welfare Society had formed a special committee, including a doctor, to investigate this, and it would submit its report periodically on matters related to the children’s home. About the allegation of money embezzlement by the dera head, the police has started the investigation.