The Bharat Sevashram Sangha monk accused of outraging the modesty of a 15-year-old girl on Wednesday evening was arrested on Friday and forwarded to judicial custody.

The 54-year-old has been charged with rape under Section 376 of the IPC and various sections of the Pocso Act based on the statement of the teenager to the district child welfare committee. Police are, however, probing differences in her version and surveillance camera footage obtained from the Sonari ashram.

Sonari thana OC Naresh Prasad Sinha said they acted on the FIR and arrested the accused after questioning him for a day. “The monk has been sent to Ghaghidih Central Jail. The girl was examined at Khasmahal Sadar Hospital yesterday (Thursday). Her medical report is expected by Monday,” he said.

Asked what CCTV cameras had revealed, the officer said footage confirmed that the girl, a resident of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, was indeed in the monk’s room for three hours on Wednesday.

“The accused had come out alone from the room once in between and had locked the door from outside. He went back in after 17 minutes. During the time he was outside, he was seen pacing the premises restlessly,” OC Sinha said.

According to child welfare committee chairperson Pushpa Tirkey, the girl said the monk had treated her to samosas first. But, the footage didn’t show him taking any food packet inside.

“In her statement, she said the monk had taken her to his room. However, a camera feed shows she walked up to the room on her own. There are similar discrepancies that need to be thoroughly investigated,” the OC said, adding that they had slapped rape charges under Section 376 because the case involved a minor.

Ajit Maharaj, head of the Sonari ashram who had earlier claimed the accusation was an attempt to malign the charitable organisation, on Friday said the monk in question had been discharged from his duties to facilitate an impartial police probe.

Sources at the ashram said the monk had joined Bharat Sevashram Sangha 17 years ago and he was the one who had taken the initiative to install CCTV cameras on the Sonari premises a month ago.

The girl is in the steel city with her brother and sister-in-law for the treatment of her nephew and niece. The children are admitted to Tata Meherbai Memorial Hospital with cancer for a month now.

The family had initially rented a room at the ashram, but 10 days shifted to a rented house in nearby Adarshnagar. On Wednesday evening, the girl had left home after a fight with her sister-in-law and come to the ashram.

Child welfare committee chairperson Tirkey said the medical report of the teenager would clear grey areas.