Jailed ex-minister Manju Verma's arms license suspended

The Begusarai district administration Thursday suspended the arms license of former minister Manju Verma who is in jail in connection with an Arms Act case surfaced in course of a CBI probe into the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal.

In the order, District Magistrate Rahul Kumar also asked Verma to show cause as to why the license would not be cancelled and her firearm be seized in the light of the case lodged against her following recovery of huge quantity of ammunition from her house by the CBI last year.

She has to reply to the show cause within 30 days.

The DM also ordered that Verma's licensed firearm be deposited at a licensed shop.

The development comes a day after a court here had rejected the bail plea of Verma who had to step down in August last year as the social welfare minister following allegations of close links between her husband and Brajesh Thakur, prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal.

The CBI, while probing the scandal, had raided her bungalow in Patna as well as the house of her in-laws in Arjun Tola locality here under Cheria Bariarpur police station where about 50 cartridges of different sizes were recovered.

Upon the CBI's information, the police registered an FIR against the former minister and her husband Chandrashekhar Verma under the Arms Act.