Cops to take judo trainer on remand

BHUBANESWAR: Police are planning to take judo trainer Manmohan Bhanja, arrested in Puri on Thursday on charges of raping a minor, on remand. Police said Bhanja ran an orphanage, housing about 10 children, including four girls.
On Monday, Baliapanda police raided the orphanage after the district child welfare committee objected to its operation. "The day after, one of the girls lodged a complaint alleging that Bhanja raped her.She has been staying in the home for the past two years," said a police officer.
Police rehabilitated the other nine children in a short-stay home in Puri. "We are yet to receive the victim's medical report. We may bring Bhanja on remand to know veracity of the charges," the officer said.
On Monday, Bhanja denied the charges. "It is a conspiracy against me by members of an NGO, whose wrongdoing was exposed by me in 2008. One of the NGO's volunteers, a foreigner, was arrested on charges of sexually abusing minor boys.
The same organization implicated me in a false case," said Bhanja, who had been teaching judo and karate in Puri for the past six years.