Patna: Police have recovered a .303 bore police rifle, which is out of bounds for civilians, that is suspected to have been used in the killing of senior BJP leader Visheshwar Ojha in February last year.

Acting on a tip-off, a team attached to Bahoranpur police outpost in Bhojpur district raided the house of one Banke Rai at Purusottampur on Friday night and seized the .303 bore rifle and 35 live cartridges.

Bhojpur superintendent of police Avkash Kumar said on Saturday that the weapon had been sent to the state forensic science laboratory to ascertain whether it was used in the murder of Ojha.

The BJP's then state vice-president was gunned down on February 12, 2016, in an area falling under the jurisdiction of Shahpur police station of Bhojpur district. Four empty cartridges recovered from the site of the killing have also been sent to the laboratory to match them with the seized weapon. In addition, details of the weapon have been sent to ordnance factories across the country to verify from where it was sold.

"It's a prohibited bore and civilians can't obtain it from the ordnance factory. It is supplied to the police forces and the Indian army," SP Avkash told The Telegraph.

He said another carbine which was used in the killing of the BJP leader is yet to be recovered. The SP added that the local police had no record of criminal antecedents of Rai, in whose house the weapons was found.

Ojha's brother Bhuwar Ojha claimed that the seized rifle was used in the killing. "The local residents had spotted one Umakant Mishra carrying the same weapon at the site of occurrence on the fateful day. Umakant was arrested and sent to jail," Bhuwar said.

Earlier, three rifles of .315 bore and one rifle of .318 bore were seized by the police.

The prime accused, Brajesh Mishra, is still evading arrest.

Bhuwar earlier met director-general of police P.K. Thakur and spoke of the alleged links of the assailants with RJD lawmaker Munna Tiwary.

Bhojpur SP Avkash, however, said the police had interrogated Tiwary in the past but "nothing incriminating was found against him." He said the police would look into the matter afresh only after new facts surface.

Tiwary, the MLA from Shahpur Assembly constituency, had admitted that he had called one of the suspects on his mobile phone on the day of the incident but it was not related to Ojha's murder. "I am a people's representative and I receive and make hundreds of calls to people," a police officer quoted the legislator as saying.

Not satisfied with police's contention, Bhuwar has filed a petition in the high court seeking its intervention. The court has sought reply from the state government within four weeks.