Noida, Jun 30 (PTI) The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration on Monday said that the probe into Anand Niketan Vridha Ashram -- a privately run old-age home in Noida's Sector 55 -- will take two more days, as officials await compliance from the management, which has so far allegedly failed to produce any registration documents.
District Magistrate Manish Kumar Verma told PTI, "The investigation is going on in this case and it will take two days more. Action on Anand Niketan Vridha Ashram will be taken as per the report."
The ashram drew widespread criticism after a video surfaced online on June 26, showing the hands of an 80-year-old woman tied by a caretaker. The video prompted an immediate visit by UP Women's Commission member Dr Meenakshi Bharala, alongside Noida Police and the District Welfare Department.
During a subsequent inspection on Friday, Nitya Dwivedi, supervisor with the Social Welfare Department, asked the ashram's management to show proof of registration.
"We had moved three elderly residents to old-age home in Dankaur, after the surprise inspection by Dr Meenakshi Bharala, member of the UP Women Commission, Noida Police and District Welfare Department inspected the Anand Niketan Vridha Ashram on Thursday," Dwivedi told PTI on Monday.
"We asked them to show documents of the registration of Anand Niketan Vridha Ashram, but they could not show documents to us. We gave them five days' time to produce documents, so now waiting for documents to show if they are able to show after five days or not," she added.
According to authorities, three elderly residents were shifted to a government facility in Dankaur on Thursday night. However, one resident returned to the ashram and another went back to his home.
On Saturday (June 28), when PTI visited the Anand Niketan facility to verify the conditions following the inspections, the premises remained unsealed but its main gate was locked from inside. The guard only allowed access to relatives of residents or officials. "No mediaperson is allowed," he said.
The facility -- run in a residential house since 1994 without official registration -- had 42 elderly residents during last week's inspection.
While a guard had dismissed the allegations as exaggerated, saying the viral video "tarnished the ashram's image," the visuals from the raid had shown deeply concerning conditions.
Bharala had reported finding one elderly man unclothed on a bare bed, and basement-like rooms housing half-clad or restrained residents.
Residents and bystanders had expressed mixed views - with some vouching for decent treatment and others acknowledging complaints, especially about food.
The ashram is operated by Jan Kalyan Trust, a private charitable organisation founded in 1989. Following the June 26 video, Minister of State for Social Welfare Asim Arun had ordered a preliminary inquiry and sought a detailed report from district officials.
"Once the report is available, we will be in a better position to take a call on what needs to be done," he told PTI in Lucknow.