Seven minor girls - five of them said to be former inmates of the Muzaffarpur shelter home which got embroiled in sex scandal - escaped from a care unit at Mokama town in rural Patna in the early hours of Saturday.
Opposition parties flayed the NDA government in Bihar, alleging that five of the girls were "witnesses" in the sex scandal being probed by the CBI under the supervision of the Supreme Court, and claimed their escape was a "conspiracy" hatched by the ruling dispensation to protect "big shots".
"Seven girls have escaped from the shelter home. They are said to have fled after cutting the grill of a window at about 3 am. They were under treatment for their violent behaviour," Social Welfare Department Director Raj Kumar told PTI.
It is yet to be ascertained whether the girls include former inmates of the Muzaffarpur Balika Grih, he said.
Hours later, Deputy Inspector General Patna Range Rajesh Kumar reached the spot for inspection and said, "We are conducting investigations taking all possible angles into account."
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in state Assembly Tejashwi Yadav tweeted: "Five witnesses of the Muzaffarpur rape case have been made to disappear from Mokama shelter home to protect the chief minister and the government machinery."
Yadav's mother Rabri Devi, who is leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council, said, "Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should tell us why he is so scared."
Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra said, "It appears that attempts are being made to save some people in the Muzaffarpur case. The Supreme Court should take note of the disappearance of girls from Mokama."