50 live cartridges found during raids in connection with Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case

MUZAFFARPUR: Fifty live cartridges were recovered during raids in connection with the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case. The raids were conducted at the house of Bihar's former social welfare minister Manju Verma and her husband Chandrashekhar pertaining to Muzaffarpur case, where several women at a shelter home were allegedly raped and sexually abused. 

Manju Verma had stepped down as the Social Welfare Minister in the Bihar government after there were allegations that her husband had spoken to prime accused Brajesh Thakur several times between January and June this year.

Earlier in the day, he had surrendered before the District Court Manjhaul in Begusarai. The move came after the SC recently asked the Bihar government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to explain why there was a delay in tracing the whereabouts of Chandrashekhar Verma who is wanted for alleged illegal possession of ammunition in large quantity.

"The amicus says that Chandrashekhar Verma is still not arrested and according to the CBI and Bihar, he is absconding. The amicus says that as per her information, Chandrashekhar Verma has been seen in Patna at the official residence of his wife who is a former minister of Bihar," the SC bench said.

On September 20, the court had said it had come on record that Chandrashekhar Verma and his wife were in "possession of illegal ammunition of a fairly large quantity" and it was not clear whether they were in possession of illegal arms as well. 

The court had observed that the CBI, in its status report filed earlier, had noted that an FIR has been lodged against Chandrashekhar and Manju Verma. 

Over 30 girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at the shelter home in Muzaffarpur. The case of alleged sexual exploitation was highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to the state's social welfare department.

An FIR was lodged on May 31 against 11 people, including Brajesh Thakur, who was running the shelter home. The probe was later taken over by the CBI. So far 17 persons have been arrested in connection with the case.