Why Hasn't Former Bihar Minister Manju Verma Been Arrested in Muzaffarpur Case Yet, Asks SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Bihar police why former state minister Manju Verma has not been arrested in a case related to the recovery of ammunition in a Muzaffarpur shelter home where several girls were allegedly raped.

A bench of Justices M B Lokur, S A Nazeer and Deepak Gupta also directed that Brajesh Thakur, prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter homes sexual abuse case, be shifted to the Patiala high security jail in Punjab from Bihar's Badarpur jail.

Verma's husband was the owner of the home. The alleged sexual exploitation of the girls was first highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to the state's social welfare department.

Chandrashekhar Verma, husband of former social welfare minister Manju Verma, surrendered before a Begusrai court on Monday in connection with Muzaffarpur shelter home rapes. He surrendered before the Manjhaul sub-divisional court in Begusarai district where Judicial Magistrate Yogesh Kumar Mishra remanded him in judicial custody till November 6.

Manju Verma had resigned as Bihar state social welfare minister in August. Defending his wife, Verma said, "I am the owner of the house from where the CBI claimed to have found illegal bullets. Manju had nothing to do with it. She should have not been named in this case."

A team of CBI, investigating the shelter home rape case, had raided the former minister's house in Patna and Begusarai simultaneously on August 17 and recovered a huge cache of ammunition, following which her husband was booked under Arms Act after the couple failed to give a satisfactory reply.

Director General of Police KS Dwivedi claimed that Verma's surrender was the result stern action against him with police planning to attach his properties on Monday.

On the other hand, Verma claimed that he was being framed in the sexual abuse case "merely on the basis of an accused officer's wife's statement".

Shibha Kumar, wife of the accused child protection officer, Ravi Raushan, had alleged that Verma was a frequent visitor to Balika Griha in Muzaffarpur where 34 minor girls were raped overa period of time. It was run by NGO Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti, which was owned by Brajesh Thakur, the main accused in the case who is facing trial along with 17 others.