At a time when reports of the sexual exploitation are coming from different shelter homes in Bihar, a Buddhist meditation centre has come under the glare where young children were allegedly sexually abused by a monk.

The Gaya police arrested Bhante Sanghpriya, who was running Pragya Jyoti Buddhist Novice School & Meditation Center at Mastipur close to Mahabodhi Temple. The children mostly from Assam and Tripura and aged between 7-13 years complained that they were physically assaulted and tortured by the monk and the centre’s staff.

The young children from the countryside of northeast region had been admitted there to learn Buddha’s teaching in order to become lama.

Some of the guardians of the children were telephonically informed by some monk from Mumbai that their children were in deplorable condition in Bodh Gaya. It is not known which monk informed them. But when some of the guardians arrived Bodh Gaya the children told their miseries and accused Bhante Sanghpriya whose original name is Sujoy and he is a citizen of Bangladesh.

There were altogether 29 boys at the centre. When the police was informed about the incident on Wednesday evening, Senior SP of Gaya Rajiv Mishra rushed there and arrested the Bhante and three other staff.

The police searched the two storied building and found CCTV cameras installed there but it didn't cover Monk's office which doubled as his bed room too. The CCTV footages have been seized by the police.

One of the guardians Arrun Vikas Chakma told newsmen in Gaya quoting boys that they would be stripped naked and forced to dance while the monk would indulge in immoral acts. On Thursday the police produced the monk in the court which forwarded him to judicial custody. The monk has also been charged under POCSO Act.

A few years back a lama had been arrested in Bodh Gaya for his involvement in homosexuality in a monastery.