Bihar police says ex-minister Manju Verma untraceable; SC expresses shock

The Supreme Court Monday said it was "quite shocked" that the Bihar police was unable to trace and arrest former state minister Manju Verma, who had stepped down from the cabinet in the wake of the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal, in a case related to alleged recovery of illegal ammunition from her.

A bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta summoned the Bihar director general of police (DGP) to explain why the state police had failed to trace the whereabouts of Verma and arrest her in connection with the case.

Verma had resigned as the social welfare minister in the Bihar government following the Muzaffarpur case, where several women inmates of a shelter home were allegedly raped and sexually abused, after it came to light that her husband Chandrashekhar Verma had spoken to Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the case, several times between January and June.

At the outset, the bench asked, "Has the lady (Verma) been arrested?"
The bench, which posted the matter for further hearing to November 27, also said, "We are quite shocked that a former cabinet minister cannot be traced for more than a month."