Gangster Nayeem used kids as 'human shields'; cops probing sexual abuse
Hyderabad: Police and Child Welfare Committee authorities have confirmed, as had been first reported in this newspaper, that gangster Nayeemuddin used children and adolescent girls as “human shields”.
Around 18 children — nine from Cyberabad and nine from Mahbubnagar — who were rescued in the past three days, have been lodged at child welfare homes. However, they haven’t said anything so far regarding sexual abuse by Nayeemuddin.
According to Child Wefare Committee members, there is no evidence that Nayeem was a paedophile, as had been suspected initially. However, cops said that the sexual abuse angle is still being probed.
Shamshabad DCP Sunpreet Singh said, “We have rescued nine children and adolescent girls from the Alkapuri house of Nayeemuddin. No children or girls were found at his Goa guesthouse.” When asked about the sexual abuse angle, Mr Singh said, “We are still checking it.”
Mahbubnagar superintendent of police Rema Rajeswari said, “Nine children including girls were rescued from the Millennium Township house where Nayeem was taking shelter. I haven’t got a chance to talk to the kids yet. Whatever little interaction I had, they barely opened up. I have heard that CWC officials have spoken to them. We have started working on the sexual exploitation angle. The SIT will take it up.”
Ranga Reddy Child Welfare Committee authorities have recorded the statements of the nine children. RR CWC chairperson Ms V. Padmavati, however, refused to comment on the issue.
When contacted, Mahbubnagar Child Welfare Committee chairperson G. Chandrasekhar said, “None of these nine kids in Mahbubnagar were employed by Nayeem. There is an infant of 40 days to a 17-year-old girl among those rescued. Out of the nine, only one is a boy. The children are not revealing anything concrete. They are still in shock. They don’t know why they are here. Some of them are still crying. They had different relations at different times with Nayeem. We are trying to spend more time with them.”
When asked about the paedophile angle, Mr Chandraskehar said, “We haven’t been told about any abuse like that so far. They are not tribal girls. They belong to a minority community. They said they all belong to the Bhongir area and had come for some function to the house.” Nalgonda SP Prakash Reddy said no children were rescued during raids on the various dens in Nalgonda district.
