The CBI on Wednesday formally arrested Shaista Parveen alias Madhu, a close aide of Brajesh Thakur, the jailed key accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case, and medical practitioner Ashwin and produced them in court in Muzaffarpur.

While Madhu surrendered before the CBI at its camp office in Muzaffarpur on Tuesday, Ashwin was picked up from his in-laws’ house under the jurisdiction of Kudhani police station in Muzaffarpur on Tuesday.

Both suspects in the Balika Grih rape and harassment case were produced in court on Wednesday.

The investigating agency sought a five-day remand of the duo on the plea that their interrogation would throw more light on the case. The court agreed with the CBI plea and allowed it to quiz the two suspects. Madhu’s health was examined at the sadar hospital before being taken on remand.

While Madhu has been accused of working for the NGO allegedly run by Brajesh and hobnobbing with the bureaucrats and other junior officials at the district and the state level, Ashwin was charged with administering sedative injections to minor girls before being raped at the facility.

An official associated with the investigation revealed that Madhu has started cooperating with the investigating agency. Initially she tried to distance herself from Brajesh and his alleged unlawful activities but later gave in. “The information given by Madhu is being verified,” he said.

Sources in the CBI said Madhu admitted that she used to teach the inmates of Balika Grih, a government-funded shelter home for minor girls, how to have sex at tender age. At least 34 girls staying at Balika Grih were raped.

Madhu’s arrest is termed a big catch for the investigating agency. “She was the main conduit of Brajesh and knew everything that happened in the shelter home, through she denied to be involved in the affairs of the Balika Grih,” said a source in the CBI.

Madhu was born and brought up in a red light area at Chaturbhujsthan. She was married but it didn’t last long. In 2003, she came in contact with Brajesh, who helped her in setting up an NGO — Wama Shakti Vahini, which used to work for the rehabilitation of children and women of red light localities.

Brajesh appointed Madhu a correspondent of his Urdu newspaper — Halaat-E-Bihar. A law graduate, Madhu, soon established “good relations” with some bureaucrats of Muzaffarpur and Patna. She was often seen sitting in the chamber of an IAS officer in Patna, who had earlier served as the district magistrate of Muzaffarpur.

Madhu was also appointed a member of the Juvenile Justice Board between 2008 and 2014 and also provided a bodyguard. “It was due to her clout that her name was recommended by the Muzaffarpur district administration to the social welfare department for the women’s award from the district,” said a senior IAS officer.

The CBI has so far taken 17 persons into custody in connection with the shelter home sexual exploitation case. The scandal came to the fore during a social audit of shelter homes across the state by Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. An FIR was lodged against 11 persons, including Brajesh, with the women’s police station on May 31 this year.