Berhampur: Exposing security loopholes, as many as 13 female inmates of Utkal Balashram at Gosaninuagaon here fled the shelter home late Monday night.
The incident came to the fore after the destitute home’s superintendent Sasmita Rani Padhi approached the Gosaninuagaon in the morning.
Sources said the inmates could not cope with the ‘torture’ meted out to them and escaped through the broken compound wall of the destitute home. “Later, they managed to reach Bhubaneswar via train from Berhampur railway station,” police sources said.
Later in the day, one of the inmates was rescued from her aunt’s place in Bhubaneswar, the source added.
A dedicated team of police has been looking for the whereabouts of other girls in Bhubaneswar with help of the rescued minor.
“The twin city Commissionerate Police has also been appraised of the issue. We are in constant touch with them,” Gosaninuagaon inspector in-charge (IIC) Sumit Kumar Soren said.
Berhampur sub-collector Shinde Dattatreya Bhausaheb said, “Once the girls are rescued, we will ascertain as to why they fled the shelter home.”
Former president of Ganjam unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kanhu Charan Pati, on the other hand, urged the District Collector to rescue the girls at the earliest and subsequently initiate an enquiry into the issue.
However, Utkal Balashram superintendent was not available for her reaction.