New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS): Nine minor girls have reportedly gone missing from a shelter home in the national capital, after which Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday directed for the suspension of officials concerned.
According to a letter written by Delhi Commission of Women head Swati Maliwal to Sisodia on Monday, nine girls went missing from Sanskar Ashram for Girls in Dilshad Garden on the intervening night of December 1 and 2.
"The shelter home authorities say they have no clue on how and when these girls went missing. Their absence was discovered only in the morning of December 2," Maliwal wrote.
An FIR has been registered by the Delhi Police, she said and a probe is underway.
"The lapse of the home authorities in making it secure is extremely serious and warrants immediate intervention. These nine girls were transferred from a shelter home in Dwarka to Sanskar Ashram for Girls in May," she added.
She said: "The girls were victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation and the possibility of the traffickers/ brothel owners kidnapping these girls in connivance with the home authorities needs to be investigated in detail."
Responding to the letter, Sisodia directed Delhi Chief Secretary (CS) Anshu Prakash for suspension of the District Officer and the Home Superintendent with immediate effect.
"The matter of nine girls going missing from Sanskar Ashram for Girls (SAG) yesterday (Sunday) is extremely serious and unfortunate. The Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) has failed in its duty to provide a safe and secure environment for minor girls who were placed under protection of the state," Sisodia wrote to the CS.
"It is directed that the District Officer, North-East, WCD, and the SAG Superintendent are immediately placed under suspension and their charge is given to competent and sensitive officers," he said.
Malliwal also wrote to the Delhi Police recommending investigation in the above mentioned FIR to be transferred to the Crime Branch of Delhi Police so that urgent and immediate action could be taken to trace the girls, the DCW said in a statement.