Manju Verma, husband's anticipatory bail pleas in Arms Act case rejected

Two separate courts of Begusarai on Saturday rejected the anticipatory bail application of former Bihar Welfare Department minister Manju Verma and her spouse Chandrashekhar Verma in an Arms Act case against them.

The Vermas were put behind the bars after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recovered as many as 50 live cartridges from their house on August 17, during a raid in connection with the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case.

Advocates appearing for Manju and Chandrashekhar argued for the anticipatory bail, citing the fact that the duo was living in Patna and rarely visited their house in Begusarai, where the probe authorities found the cartridges.

Manju Verma stepped down as minister after her husband, Chandrakant Verma, came under the police radar for having alleged links with Brajesh Thakur, the mastermind of the Muzaffarpur shelter home case.

Chandrakant allegedly used to visit the shelter home quite frequently, spending hours in the girls' rooms. However, the couple had denied the allegations.

The local authorities came to know about the scandal after an FIR was lodged by the social welfare department following the audit report issued by Mumbai's leading research institute -Tata Institute of Social Sciences which mentioned that the girls are falling prey to sexual abuse at Muzaffarpur shelter home.

The police had rescued 44 girls living in the vicinity and had arrested 11 employees working at the shelter home on July 24. The medical reports of twenty-nine girls indicated that sexual contact was established with them.