In a press conference held on June 30, AIPWA's National General Secretary Meena Tiwari along with survivors of Muzaffarpur DBR company job racket case the called for the immediate formation of a high level Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case, alleging that the administration is shielding the criminals involved. The main accused, Manish Sinha, remains at large, and the administration is reportedly under pressure from the BJP, hindering his arrest.
On June 29, 2024, a fact-finding team led by Meena Tiwari visited Muzaffarpur and met with four girls who are surviors of the DBR scandal, where women were duped in pretext of jobs and were cheated, illegally detained and sexually harassed. The survivors had gone to Ahiyapur police station to provide their statements. In a press conference held in Patna, the survivors also detailed their experiences of sexual exploitation, fraud, and assault by DBR Company, a Surat-headquartered networking company with branches across Bihar. The investigation team included Suraj Singh, Fahad Jama, Vijay Gupta, Rajkishore Prasad, and AIPWA State Secretary Anita Sinha.
Comrade Meena Tiwari highlighted that DBR Company operates a massive fraud network under the guise of providing employment. Despite being caught several times, the company changes its name to continue deceiving young men and women aged 18 to 22. They demand an advance of Rs. 20,500 and then pressure these youths to recruit others into the company. Those who refuse face physical assault, and some girls have been sexually assaulted. Most victims come from very poor backgrounds, with many girls borrowing money to pay the company.
She added that the local administration turned a blind eye to horrific incident and refused to take strict action. Only one victim has managed to file a case through the court. The administration should have proactively filed FIRs for other victims, but it appears intent on suppressing the matter. The victim who filed the case stated that company employee Tilak Singh forcibly assaulted her. Initially, the administration tried to downplay the case by labelling it a love affair. Now, the administration is questioning the girls who testified for the survivor.
The main accused and CMD Manish Sinha, remains at large, reportedly intimidating the victim in various ways. Sinha is said to have close ties with the BJP, with threats being made to the girls about his connections with high-ranking government ministers, urging them to withdraw the case. The administration is aware of these threats but continues to protect the criminals.
In light of these developments, CPI-ML and AIPWA have put forward the following demands: immediate formation of an high level SIT due to the highly suspicious role of the district administration, a high-level judicial inquiry into the case given the political protection and administrative collusion, immediate arrest of the main accused Manish Sinha, proactive registration of cases for other victimized girls by the government and administration, immediate cancellation and banning of DBR Company's registration, and refund of all money taken from the youths and appropriate compensation for the victimized girls.
CPIML Legislative group leader and MLA Mahboob Alam said that the party will strongly raise this issue in the Bihar assembly and the culprits will not be allowed to escape. He added that action should be taken against erring police and district officials for criminal negligence. He also condemned Nitish-BJP government’s lack of seriousness in ensuring justice in the case.
