Court grants interim relief to Khan Sir in firing case

Patna: A Patna court on Tuesday granted interim protection from arrest to tutor Faisal Khan, popularly known as Khan Sir, in connection with a firing incident at his coaching institute on June 2.Hearing his anticipatory bail plea, sessions judge Rupesh Deo directed the investigating officer to produce the case diary and details of Khan’s criminal antecedents. The court ordered that no coercive action be taken against him until the next hearing and asked him to cooperate with the investigation.The case relates to an incident at Khan Global Studies in the Kadamkuan area, where two security guards allegedly fired shots into the air during a disturbance. The guards were later arrested and police subsequently named Khan in the case under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Arms Act.Khan’s counsel argued that the guards acted in self-defence to disperse a crowd and that the allegations against his client were limited to claims that he had instructed them to fire. The defence also told the court that the guards had been hired through a private security agency and that the weapons used were licensed firearms.It was further submitted that Khan had cooperated with the investigation by facilitating the appearance of the guards before police along with the relevant documents.The prosecution opposed the plea, citing the statement of one of the arrested guards and alleging misuse of a firearm licence.After hearing both sides, the court said a detailed examination of records was necessary before deciding the anticipatory bail petition.Meanwhile, the court rejected the bail plea of Roshan Anand, owner of another coaching institute, who was arrested after Khan alleged that he may have been involved in orchestrating the attack on his institute.The decision triggered fresh protests by students, who gathered near Patna College and demanded Anand’s release. Police deployed additional personnel to prevent the demonstration from proceeding.