Patna, October 31: The Bihar government on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that former social welfare minister Manju Verma, whose husband is linked to the Muzaffarnagar shelter home scandal, could not be traced by the state police.

The top court rapped the government's counsel for failing to take Manju into custody, despite her anticipatory bail plea being rejected by the Patna High Court on October 9. Why Manju Verma Stepped Down as Bihar Social Welfare Minister.

An arrest warrant was issued against Manju earlier in the month, after the CBI - which is probing the shelter home scandal - found 50 cartridges from her Begusarai-based residence. She was subsequently booked under the Arms Act.

Manju, who represented the Cheria-Bariarpur constituency on JD(U) ticket since 2010, had to resign as the social welfare minister in August -- days after her husband Chandrashekhar Verma was dragged into the shelter home rapes case.

During the previous set of hearings, the court had questioned the police on why it had failed to arrest Chandrashekar so far. The investigators had subsequently intensified their search operation, which compelled the accused to surrender on Monday.

Chandrashekhar was dragged into the sexual abuse scandal as his call intercepts found he had 17 telephonic conversations between January and June with Brijesh Thakur, the owner of the shelter home where more than 30 girls were raped over a period of time.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 31, 2018 01:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).