<![CDATA[Bhante Sanghpriye Sujoy, the head monk of the Prajna Jyoti Novice School and Meditation Centre, was arrested on Wednesday on charges of sexually abusing more than a dozen boys and produced the next day in a local court in Gaya. The court remanded him to a 14-day judicial custody and sent him to the Gaya Central jail. Police have found that the children who were brought from northeastern states, particularly Tripura and Assam, for a special training to the monastery in Bihar’s Bodh Gaya were allegedly engaged as sex workers and even sent outside the state, particularly to Kolkata, to potential clients. A member of the special investigation team (SIT) said if the children at the centre, run by the Bangladeshi Buddhist monk Sujoy, refused to accept the authority of their Guru, they had to face brutal physical punishment. The officer added that the children were sometimes closed in a room and kept without food and water. They were also forced to join in a nude dance with the head monk at night. Gaya’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajeev Mishra, constituted the team headed by Bodh Gaya’s deputy superintendent of police Raman Kumar Chaudhary and monitored by city superintendent of police Anil Kumar on Thursday to probe the alleged physical and sexual abuse of 15 children at the centre. City SP Kumar said that they are probing the case from all angles. The children would be allowed to go home with their parents after medical examination and recording of their statement under Section 164. The victims’ parents, most of whom are poor farmers, told reporters that each of them was paid Rs 1,000 for sending their children for schooling at the Bodh Gaya monastery. Police are looking for one Arun Kumar of Bodh Gaya, who was instrumental in bringing the children from Assam to the pilgrim town. The children were taken to Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital (ANMMCH) in Gaya for their medical examination. Four of them were later taken to the judicial magistrate in a court to record their statements.]]>