BJP MLA Nitesh Rane. THE SESSIONS court in Sindhudurg granted bail to BJP MLA Nitesh Rane on Wednesday in connection with an attempt to murder case.
Rane surrendered before the court on February 2 after which the Kankavli police in Sindhudurg district sought his custody. The court had then granted the police his custody for two days, after which he was sent to judicial custody for 14 days. His lawyers then filed a bail plea.
The court had reserved orders on Tuesday after hearing both sides.
The detailed order of the bail is yet to be made available. Among the conditions set for Rane are that he shall not contact the victim or any witnesses, shall not enter Kankavli taluka till the chargesheet is filed in the case and attend a local police station every Monday till the chargesheet is filed. He was directed to be released on executing a personal bond of Rs 30,000. The court said that breach of any conditions will be a ground for cancellation of bail.
Nitesh, son of Union Minister Narayan Rane, was arrested in connection with an alleged road rage incident on December 18 last year. According to the police, the complainant Santosh Parab, a Shiv Sena functionary, was going on a bike from Naravde naka in Kankavli, when an Innova that did not have a number plate hit his bike.
The driver had allegedly assaulted the complainant by stabbing him in the chest. The complainant said he heard the assailant say to another person in the car, “should inform Gotya Sawant and Nitesh Rane”, before they fled from the spot, police said.
Parab then approached Kankavli police following which an FIR was registered under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
Rane had in December approached the Sindhudurg court with an anticipatory bail plea. It was rejected on December 30 with the court stating that his custodial interrogation was needed. Subsequently, his pre-arrest plea was also rejected by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court had said Rane should surrender and then approach the court for bail. His lawyers, while seeking bail before the sessions court last week, had submitted that keeping him in custody was not required.
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