Ranchi: Khunti farmer Budu Kandir's son is likely to be at a child shelter in Bariatu, chairperson of Jharkhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Arti Kujur said on Monday while formally concluding her inquiry into the alleged child mix-up.

Kandir, a 35-year-old widower whose twins Sagar and Sarita were among 22 children shifted from Missionaries of Charity-run Shishu Bhavan in Ranchi in early July following the baby sale racket in sister organisation Nirmal Hriday, has been claiming he was handed the wrong baby boy as son along with his daughter.

Though the names of Sagar and Sarita were among 12 children sent to Khunti's Sahyog Village, Ranchi and Khunti child welfare committees handed over one Mangra Nag, a boy of the same age as Sagar, to him, he claimed ( Baby 'mix-up' blot on shelter, September 2).

Jharkhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Arti Kujur, whom the poor farmer finally approached last week, on Monday said it seemed Sagar Kandir was at government-aided Karuna, a child shelter in Bariatu, with the name tag Mangra Nag.

"On the basis of Kandir's written application, I conducted an inquiry. A baby of the description provided by Kandir is staying at Karuna childcare institution at Bariatu. In the records, the name of the boy is Mangra Nag, son of Budhu Nag of Seraikela-Kharsawan district. Kandir had claimed that instead Sagar; child welfare committees of Ranchi and Khunti had handed him over Mangra," she said.

If so, the boy at the Karuna home is Sagar. But to confirm identity beyond doubt, Kujur said, "An identification parade will be held and if required a DNA test would be done to confirm parentage."

She added she would hold a meeting of Ranchi and Khunti DCs in this regard and had instructed Karuna authorities to trace Mangra's father.

The baby boy that was given to Kandir, which he believes is Mangra, is currently under treatment at Ranchi Hospital for a liver disorder. The baby "Mangra" at Karuna is healthy but no one has come to visit him, Sangita, an official of the child care home said. She added this toddler was handed to them by Ranchi child welfare committee.

Both toddlers are of the same age - over 20 months now - and look similar.

After the adoption racket came to light at Ranchi's Nirmal Hriday on Jail Road, a refuge for rescued girls run by the Missionaries of Charity, the state child welfare committee ordered the shifting of all babies from Shishu Bhavan, the child shelter run by the same missionaries at Hinoo.

Of 22 babies there, 12 were shifted to Sahyog Village in Khunti, the district branch of a child care shelter chain run by an NGO.

At Sahyog Village, babies started falling ill. One of those brought from Shishu Bhavan and two other original residents died, raising an uproar. Eight children were then handed back to parents like Kandir on July 14.

Was it necessary to shift babies from Shishu Bhavan? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com