NEW DELHI: Amid the uproar over in the Muzaffarpur shelter home rapes case, CBI carried out searches at the residence, other locations linked to former Bihar Minister Manju Verma on Friday.

In addition to five locations, search operations are also underway at seven premises of Brajesh Thakur, who ran the NGO, his friends and relatives. The searches were spread across three residences of former Social Welfare Minister Verma in Patna and one each in Motihari and Bhagalpur.

Bihar social welfare minister Manju Verma earlier resigned after it was reported that her husband Chandeshwar Verma had talked to Muzaffarpur shelter home rape accused Brajesh Thakur at least 17 times between January-June.

The Manju’s resignation came soon after Thakur admitted to media at the Muzaffarpur court campus that he used to speak to Chandeshwar “on political issues”.

The horrific case of sexual exploitation of inmates of a shelter home at Muzaffarpur had come to light more than a month ago in a report of a Mumbai-based social science institute which had conducted an audit of the state-funded establishment run by an NGO.

Brajesh Thakur, who is in jail, heads the NGO Seva Sankalp Evam Vika Samiti, which ran the state-funded shelter home where sexual abuse of more than 30 inmates has been confirmed in medical tests. The Bihar government had cancelled the registration of the NGO.