Thousands of psychiatric drugs bearing the stamp “Tamil Nadu Government Supply – Not for Sale” and forged letters from police officers allowing the transport of the residents to other states have been seized from Villupuram’s Anbu Jothi Ashram, which has been in the eye of the storm after reports of rape, torture and human trafficking emerged at the home of the elderly earlier this month.
The details of items seized from the home were revealed in two status reports filed in the Madras high court on Monday by deputy superintendent of police (DSP), A Priyadarshini, and inspector of police, CB-CID, PK Manickam. The reports have been accessed by HT.
For three days until Monday, the Crime Branch of the state Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) currently has custody of the eight accused (earlier arrested by the local police), including J Jubin Baby and his wife J Mariya, who ran the home illegally without a license from the Tamil Nadu State Mental Health Authority.
DSP Priyadarshini was the investigating officer before the case was transferred to the CB-CID on February 18 as the crime involved a network of operatives in several states.
In her status report, DSP Priyadarshini listed the evidence seized from the premises. This included a list of people transported to other states (Apna Ghar Ashram, Rajasthan and Buds of Heaven Ashram, Puducherry), three mobile phones, discharge summaries of patients treated at the Sri Venkateshwara Medical College and Hospital, and donation vouchers from patrons.
It also gave an inventory of a “huge quantity of psychiatric drugs” — Haloperidol (26,310 tablets), Diazepam (660 tablets), Divalproex extended release (270 tablets), Apixaban (300 tablets), Lithium Carbonate (420 tablets), Clozapine (210 tablets), Sodium Valproate (12,530 tablets), and Clotrimazole cream (309 tubes) “all bearing a seal, Tamil Nadu Government Supply – Not for Sale” — seized from the premises. These were medicines meant to be provided to patients free of cost in government hospitals.
“The source through which the alleged accused Jubin Baby obtained these tablets are a mystery,” the DSP said in the report. During the investigation with Jubin Baby and his wife Mariya on the medicines, their answers were “evasive and elusive”, she added. “Further, I came to understand that the inmates were administered with psychiatric drugs, chained and physically assaulted by the 3rd respondent (Jubin Baby),” Priyadarshini said in the report.
Tamil Nadu health minister Ma Subramanian said on Tuesday that the issue of medicines meant for government hospitals being deviated to the private institution was not brought to his notice until now. “I’ll ask my department to immediately start an enquiry into this,” he said.
Dr Nappinnai Seran, founder of the Psyhub Brain and Behaviour Clinic in Chennai, said administering such drugs in the absence of licensed professionals can be extremely harmful to patients. Haloperidol is used to treat serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia and psychosis, and Divalproex is used to treat bipolar mania, she said. The other drugs seized are antipsychotic medications, anti-epileptic tablets, sleeping tablets, mood stabilisers, and blood thinners. The cream, Clotrimazole, is used to treat fungal infections.
The DSP listed several allegations levelled against the owners of the home by inmates. She said in the report that one woman said she was being raped by Jubin and sexually harassed by his driver Biju; and that another woman alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Jubin.
Police also found letters with forged signatures of police officers which were addressed to various ashrams in other states to allow the transport of inmates. These have all been submitted to Villupuram’s additional mahila court, and two FIRs were registered in this case — one against Jubin Baby and his employees on charges of rape and sexual assault; another for various other crimes including torture and missing inmates. The DSP handed over the case files to the CB-CID on February 20.
Justice M Sundar and justice Nirmal Kumar who are hearing a Habeas Corpus petition regarding the disappearance of Zafir Ullah from the shelter home had asked the police officers to submit the action taken report on February 27. The hearing has been adjourned to March 13.
A special CB-CID team is camping in Bengaluru.
A senior CB-CID officer in Villupuram said that they returned the eight accused to the judicial custody on Monday. “We have taken statements from all the accused. We have been investigating the missing person. We told the court on Monday that we have found two dead people in Bengaluru who match him. Since one of them is Muslim, he has been buried. We have told the court that we are ready to exhume the body and do a DNA test but his relative in the US has to cooperate.” the official said
On February 23, Manickam led a team to both the Home for Hope and Kothanur police station to collect trust deeds, licence to take care of people with mental illness, disabilities, senior citizens and children. He said that an “intensive search” is being conducted by the CB-CID at 18 important mosques in and around Bengaluru, as Zafir was found to be begging before he was admitted to the ashram.
The crime at the shelter home came to light after a US resident Salim Khan asked his close-friend Halideen (complainant and petitioner) in December 2021 to admit his 70-year-old uncle Zafir Ullah in a shelter home since he had no close relatives to care for him. When Khan returned to India a year later in December 2022, he found Ullah missing. But prime accused Jubin Baby informed them that Ullah had been transferred to Bengaluru’s Home of Hope, however, he was not found there also. Halideen filed a missing persons complaint with the local police in Kedar village in December 2022 and a Habeas corpus petition before the Madras high court.
On the orders of the court, on February 10, a team of district officials led by DSP Priyadarshini inspected the ashram and found 15 people missing from the premises. Two pet monkeys belonging to Jubin Baby on the campus bit 10 people including him, according to Villupuram superintendent of police N Shreenatha.
The owners and staff members have been arrested on several charges, including rape, human trafficking, wrongful confinement, and assault. They have been booked under the Indian Penal Code and the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 1998.
