Court says no to bail plea of Ripun, 2 others

Court says no to bail plea of Ripun, 2 others

The court of R K Jain in Delhi court on Saturday rejected the bail petitions of sacked education minister Ripun Bora and two of his associates and extended their judicial remand by July 5. Before that Bora, his aides Ramesh Maheswari and Mukul Pathak were produced before the court and after hearing the arguments, the court rejected their bail petitions. On the other hand, the Delhi High Court is also remaining closed to hear the petition challenging the lower court order.
The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Bora and Maheswari from Delhi and Pathak from Guwahati on June 3 charging with trying to bribe one of its official who is probing the sensation Denial Topno murder case. After the end of the CBI custody the trio have been remanded to judicial custody and sent to the Tihar Jail. Talking to the waiting reporters, Bora said he would spill the beans the real story once he gets bail.

Ripun’s deal was for Rs 70 lakh

Our Staff Correspondent NEW DELHI, June 6 –

Mukul Pathak, the journalist who was arrested along with sacked Assam Education Minister Ripun Bora today said that the deal was originally for Rs 3.5 crore but was later negotiated down to Rs 70 lakh. The Rs 10 lakh that was allegedly paid on June 2 was the first instalment. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has officially described Mukul Pathak as a ‘conduit’.It may be mentioned that the duo was arrested along with a Delhi-based businessman, Ramesh Maheswari, in Delhi on the charge of offering a Rs 10-lakh bribe to the investigation agency. Pathak was produced before the court of VK Maheswari, Tis Hazari, today where the CBI was granted one more day’s of custody. All the three accused would be produced before the Special Court at Tis Hazari tomorrow. Mukul Pathak told newsmen while he was being produced at the court that he arranged for a meeting of Abhigyan Gogoi, a cousin of AB Gupta, DSP, CBI, Eastern Range, and Diganta Saikia, a surrendered ULFA man, with the CBI officer for arriving at a ‘deal’ with the latter. Pathak said that he only acted as a middle-man for Abhigyan, Diganta and Ripun Bora, and beyond that he had no role in the entire episode. Incidentally, Abhigyan is a son of Nomal Gogoi, an Assam Police officer, and also a cousin of the CBI DSP AB Gupta. Gogoi’s wife, a Bengali woman, is a sister-in-law of AB Gupta. Pathak, who broke down several times in the court today, claimed that he merely arranged for the meeting for the deal, and that he neither collected nor gave the money. Pathak, however, said that he was treated ‘fairly’ by the CBI. His only grievance was that he had been in the same pair of dress since his arrest.