The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday announced that it has removed Superintendent of Police Rohan P Kanay and Deputy Inspector General Rakesh Shankar from their posts following an investigation into the Deoria shelter home alleged sexual abuse case. On August 5, police rescued 24 girls from a shelter home in Deoria district following allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking.

An unidentified official said police departmental action has been initiated against them, PTI reported. “Deoria Superintendent of Police Rohan P Kanay has been removed from his post and attached to the office of the director general of police,” a spokesperson said. “Basti Deputy Inspector General Rakesh Shankar, who was Deoria Superintendent of Police between September 2017 and March 2018, has also been removed from his post and attached to the DGP office.”

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Soon after the crimes came to light, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the incident. The police had arrested the managers of the shelter.

The chief minister had said a special investigation team and a special task force was set up to prevent tampering of evidence until the investigating agency takes over the case involving the Maa Vindhyavasini Mahila and Balika Sanrakshan Grih. “Our inquiry has found that the shelter home was running in its current form since 2009,” NDTV had quoted Adityanath as saying. “In June 2017, our government had ordered that the home be closed and the girls be sent to other homes, but this was not done despite repeated letters from our side. A first information report was filed against the shelter home owners on July 30. Still no action was taken.”

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked the Centre what it had done about the more than 1,500 cases of child sexual abuse in shelter homes across the country.