Bihar ex-minister, husband booked under Arms Act

An FIR was registered against Bihar's former social welfare minister Manju Verma and her husband under Arms Act following the recovery of 50 cartridges from her in-law's house during a CBI raid in connection with the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal, police said.

The CBI had on Friday raided nearly 12 places in four districts of Bihar, including residences of Manju in Patna and her in-law's place in Begusarai.

The FIR was registered on Saturday against Manju and her husband Chandrashekhar for recovery of 50 live cartridges from her in-law's house at Arjun Tola village during a raid, Cheria Bariarpur police station SHO Ranjit Kumar Rajak said.

Police said the live cartridges are of different firearms.

The FIR was registered against the couple by a CBI official, Rajak said but declined to name him.

Manju had resigned as social welfare minister last week following a disclosure that her husband Chandrashekhar had spoken to the prime accused in the scandal, Brajesh Thakur, 17 times between January and June this year.

The scandal came to light two months ago when an FIR was lodged by the social welfare department following a social audit report submitted by Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences which mentioned sexual abuse of girls lodged at the Muzaffarpur shelter home.