In a hearing at the Madras High Court on Monday (27 February), the Tamil Nadu police have said that they have recovered a huge amount of psychiatric drugs from the Anbu Jothi Ashram.

26310 haloperidol and 12530 sodium valproate tablets were seized. Some of the other drugs seized in smaller quantities were diazepam, lithium carbonate and clozapine.

All these medications bore the text, ‘Tamil Nadu Government Supply-Not For Sale’, and thus it is now being probed as to how did they land up in the Ashram.

The submissions were made in connection with the habeas corpus case filed regarding the disappearance of 70 year old Zafiruallah, from the Ashram.

Hundreds of inmates were found to have been shifted to other Ashrams outside Tamil Nadu citing reasons like 'better care' and 'uniting with family members.'

Zafirullah was one of such inmates who were shifted to Bangalore. On enquiry at the Home of Hope Ashram in Bangalore, police were informed that he was amongst a group of fifteen, who escaped from there and since then he was untraceable.

Two of the people who escaped were brought back and they confirmed that Zafirullah was with them.

The police said that while they are continuing their search at various places, they have also found a dead body that resembles Jabarullah, but would need petitioner Salim Khan to come to India to identify the body.

To this, Khan’s advocates said that they need two weeks time to confirm if he would be able to come to India.

The Court then fixed the date of the next hearing to 13 March.

The Ashram in Villupuram which calls itself a 'residential home for mentally ill and destitutes', was recently found to have illegally confined a lot of people and branded them as mentally ill. Many women who were rescued have said that they were sexually assaulted. Others added that if they resisted, they would be chained and beaten with iron rods or monkeys would be unleashed on them.

Many fake authorisation letters from the police authorising the Ashram to bury dead bodies were found. This has led to the suspicion of human and organ trafficking.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, requesting him to order a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Also Read: Tamil Nadu Anbu Jothi Horror Home Case: CB-CID Registers 4 Cases, State Human Rights Commission Seeks Report