Close on the heels of allegations of abuse at a women's shelter home in Deoria, as many as 26 women were reported to be "missing" from two shelter homes in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh district, about 200 km from here.
According to official sources here on Thursday, the women were found missing during a surprise inspection conducted by the district administration of Pratapgarh on Wednesday night.
One of the shelter homes was operated by BJP leader Rama Mishra, who was a former president of the party's district women's wing and also a corporator.
Officials in Pratapgarh said that the two shelter homes, which were raided, were situated at Achal Nagar and Ashtabhuja Nagar in the town.
"In the shelter home at Ashtabhuja Nagar only one among the 16 registered inmates was found. On being queried, the owner Rama Mishra said that 15 women had gone out for work though she could not furnish the detail of the workplace," said a senior official here.
He said that at the other shelter home also as many as 11 women were missing and the owner could not explain their whereabouts to the officials.
The district officials said that serious irregularities had been detected in both the shelter homes.
"A report has been sent to the government in this regard...we will take stern action against the two shelter homes," the official said.
Sources, however, said quoting senior district officials that it could be a case of "financial irregularity".
"The shelter homes may have inflated the number of inmates to claim more funds from the government," said another district official in Pratapgarh.
