By IANS
Jaipur : Senior Orissa police official B.B. Mohanty was granted bail by a court here Friday, a day after he surrendered for his alleged role in helping his rapist son Bitti Hotra Mohanty jump parole in November 2006.
Mohanty was lodged in the central jail here Thursday night after a lower court remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.
On Thursday, Mohanty had surrendered before the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Rajendra Kumar Bansal, who had refused bail to the Indian Police Service (IPS) official.
On Friday, “Mohanty had applied for bail in the court of the Additional District Judge Chandrika Prasad, who after hearing his plea granted him bail,” Mahesh Chand Gupta, his counsel, told IANS.
Mohanty has been asked to furnish two sureties of Rs.100,000 each and a personal bond of similar amount, Gupta said.
Gupta said that Mohanty could be released from jail later Friday.
Mohanty, who was suspended as director general of police (home guard and fire service) by the Orissa government, was wanted by the Rajasthan police for his alleged role in helping his son jump parole. His son was convicted of raping a 26-year-old German tourist in Alwar in March 2006.
An Alwar court sentenced Bitti to seven years in jail. He was allowed a 15-day parole to meet his ailing mother on Nov 20, 2006, but he did not return to jail. The Rajasthan police after undertaking investigations had filed a case against B.B. Mohanty for allegedly helping and abetting his son’s escape and harbouring him since then.
Mohanty had allegedly signed a surety bond worth Rs.50,000 for Bitti’s parole. He has, however, so far denied that he stood surety for Bitti and also denied any knowledge of his son’s whereabouts.
The senior IPS official had been on the run for months. On Nov 15 last year, a court in Jaipur had declared him an absconder and issued warrants against him. The court had also declared Bitti an absconder and issued similar warrants against him.