Tuesday, October 4 2005 17:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: A session's court today (Oct 4, 2005) granted bail to Bollywood starlet Preeti Jain, charged with conspiracy to murder filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar.

Hearing her bail plea, sessions judge Abhay Thipsay granted Jain liberty on personal bond of Rs 15,000 with surety of same amount.

The judge asked Jain to surrender her passport to police and restrained her from leaving the jurisdiction of the city without the permission of the court.

The court also asked Jain to attend Agripada police station which had registered a case against her, for inquiry every day between 11 a.m and 5 p.m till October 10 and thereafter from 10 a.m to 1 p.m daily until further orders.

The judge observed that though the police had made out a prima facie against Jain, her custody at this juncture was not necessary as she had already spent three weeks in jail and was available to investigating agency for probe.

The judge also opined that Jain was unlikely to abscond if she was granted bail.

Naresh Pardeshi, aide of gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli, who was also arrested with Jain on the same charges, continues to be in custody.

Police alleged that Jain had given contract money to Pardeshi to kill Bhandarkar and the entries to this effect were reflected in Jain's dairy recovered from her Versova residence.

Both Jain and Pardeshi were subjected to scientific tests in Bangalore and police relied on these tests to seek their further custody.

Prosecutor pleaded that if Jain was released on bail, she was likely to misuse bail conditions and may commit similar offences. Investigations were at preliminary stage and she was likely to tamper with evidence, he argued.

Defence counsel Nilesh Pawaskar argued that Jain did not have criminal antecedents and had cooperated with probe.

Her statements had been recorded by police and she was also subjected to scientific tests. Hence she may be released on bail.

Earlier, the court had rejected her bail saying the alleged offence committed by her was grave and probe was still on.

Meanwhile, Bhandarkar continues to get police protection in view of threats to his life. He was given an armed police guard round the clock.

Jain had registered a case with Versova police against Bhandarkar alleging that he had sexually molested her on the pretext of giving her a role in films and had thus cheated her.

Bhandarkar was later granted anticipatory bail by the court but Jain challenged it in high court saying it should be cancelled. However, the court turned down her plea.

Police alleged that later she plotted the murder of Bhandarkar along with Pardeshi.