Patna: Burglars targeted the house of JDU MLA from Rupauli costitutency Bima Bharti at Bhawanipur in Purnea district on Monday night and decamped with a licensed pistol, 25 cartridges, jewellery and other valuables worth over Rs 10 lakh.

Neither Bharti's family nor her associates was present in the house when the incident happened. The burglars broke all locks, right from the main gate to the rooms inside, and prised open steel almirahs.

"We had gone to our native village in Gyanpur Bhittha, a few kilometres away, to visit my ailing mother and also to celebrate Saraswati Puja," Bharti told The Telegraph.

Some neighbours called Bharti's family to inform that the locks on the main gate of the house were broken.

The four-time legislator expressed concern about the break-in and said it could well be "a ploy by her opponents to kill her". She said the incident could not be taken lightly as a mere theft, as the condition of her house indicated that at least 15 people must have been committed the crime.

"What was their motive? I don't think that theft was their motive. Such a big group must have come to kill me. Ordinary thieves or local residents won't risk their lives by entering the house of a ruling party legislator," Bharti said.

Bharti blamed her opponents. "Shankar Singh was my opponent in the last polls. He is a muscleman and history-sheeter and has been after my life for a long time. Family members of a criminal, Chanchal Paswan, who was murdered sometime ago, could be involved in this as I was implicated in that case," she added.

Incidentally, Bharti's husband, Awadhesh Mandal, is also a muscleman and has been accused of committing several crimes.

Asked whether the incident reflected deterioration in law and order in Bihar, Bharti said the government's focus was on law and order: "But I hold the administration responsible for this. Police patrolling at night has stopped in my area for past few months."

Meanwhile, Bharti has lodged an FIR with Bhagwanpur police station.

"She has made Vijay Paswan and Sunil Paswan (sons of Chanchal Paswan) named accused in the FIR. Chanchal was murdered in 2005 and Bima and her husband Awadhesh are accused in the case. There is enmity between the two families and we are probing the case from that angle," said Bhagwanpur station house officer Santosh Kumar Mandal.

The SHO added that a team of experts from the forensic science laboratory in Patna was on its way to the spot of crime.