Seven minor girls escaped from a care unit at Mokama town in rural Patna in the early hours of Saturday following which six of them were found in Darbhanga district, police said.
Darbhanga Senior Superintendent of Police Babu Ram said, "Six of the minor girls were found in Gangauli village under the Sakatpur police station area late in the evening".
He said a police team had come from Patna district in search of the missing girls based on the inputs they had gathered during investigation. One of the girls belonged to Gangauli village.
The girl, along with five others, was found at the village and the visiting police team has taken them into custody for interrogation, the SSP said.
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."
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