"Police have begun work to help the concerned department confiscate the property of Yadav," a police officer said.

Acccording to officers at the police headquarters here, the first on the list of criminals whose property would be confiscated was Ritlal Yadav.

Last week, Bihar police chief Abhyanand had said that the property of notorious criminals would be seized, in a bid to hit criminals hard and deter crime.

"The process for the confiscations began with the preparation of a list of the state's notorious criminals," Abhayanand said, adding that many criminals had a rags-to-riches story.

This is the first time a move to confiscate the properties of criminals has been undertaken in the state. Until now, the state government only confiscated ill-gotten properties of officials and middlemen.