Patna, Aug 4 : The arms licences of Brajesh Thakur, the main accused in the rape of 34 minor girls at a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, will be suspended soon, a top official said.

Muzaffarpur District Magistrate Mohammad Sohail said that a notification to suspend the arms licences of Thakur has been issued.

"The district administration will cancel his arms licences soon," he said.

According to an official of the district administration, Brajesh Thakur was issued arms licences years ago. There was a rifle and a pistol in his name.

Thakur along with nine others were arrested and jailed after an FIR was registered against them in the Bihar shelter home rapes case. Police in Muzaffarpur have also filed a charge sheet against him and others in the case.

Bihar Health Department has issued directions to the State Aids Control Society (BSACS) to terminate the services of Thakur's NGO, Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti that was managing the shelter home where the rapes allegedly occurred.

The social welfare department blacklisted the NGO after Thakur was named the prime accused in the case, a health department official said.

The Muzaffarpur horror came to light when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

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New Delhi, May 17 (PTI): Entry to all sites and museums under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) across the country will be free on Sunday in view of the International Museum Day.

There are 3,698 protected monuments and sites, and 52 museums under the ambit of the ASI.

"The ASI is pleased to announce that entry to all ASI monuments and museums across the country will be free on May 18, on the occasion of International Museum Day," the Culture Ministry said in a statement.

The International Museum Day highlights the vital role that museums play in preserving cultural heritage, promoting education, and fostering dialogue across communities and generations.

This year to encourage wider public participation, the ASI is offering free access to its network of 52 site museums and all ticketed monuments across the country, which house some of India's most treasured archaeological artefacts,” from prehistoric tools and sculptures to medieval inscriptions, and more, the statement said.

"This initiative seeks to deepen public engagement with India's rich cultural legacy and to provide a meaningful platform for people to reconnect with history and heritage," it said.

The ASI also has a dedicated Museum Wing which deals with maintenance and management of its site museums, which includes one at Sarnath site (1910) being the earliest in the series of archaeological site museums located across the country, the ministry said.

The concept of archaeological site museums sought to preserve and display the excavated and movable artefacts near the site so that the displayed objects don't lose its context and may be studied by researchers and visitors alike while visiting the site, it said.

Recently, India's first underground museum at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Humayun's Tomb was inaugurated, along with the Virtual Experiential Museum at Man Mahal Observatory, Varanasi and Archaeological site of Lalitagiri at Odisha, the ministry added.

ASI site museums are being upgraded to facilitate the need of every section of the society, and with modern interventions like AR-VR (augmented reality-virtual reality) also being incorporated to give visitors a holistic experience, officials said.