Former Assam minister gets bail in graft case

New Delhi, Aug 5 (UNI) A city court today granted bail to former Assam Education Minister Ripun Bora and his associates, who were arrested for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs ten lakh to a CBI officer, investigating the case of a student's murder in which Bora is a suspect.

Bora was arrested from the posh Sundar Nagar area in New Delhi along with associate Ramesh Maheshwari when he was allegedly offering a bribe to a CBI officer.

One Mukul Pathak, a journalist in Guwahati, was also arrested in connection with the case. The CBI has claimed that he was another associate of Bora. The CBI official, probing the murder of a student leader of Assam Daniel Toppo, filed a complaint that the minister had offered him a bribe of Rs ten lakh to settle the case.

Toppo, district president of All Assam Tea Tribe Student's Union, was a candidate during the 1996 Assembly elections in the state and was Bora's rival. He was murdered on September 27, 2000.

CBI Special Judge R K Yadav, after hearing arguments on the bail application, granted bail to all the accused, including Bora, with the conditions of furnishing a personal bond of Rs three lakh with a surety.

The CBI had filed a chargesheet against all the accused under Section 120 B of IPC and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act in July this year.

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