NEET student death: Court defers hostel owner’s bail plea till March 11

Patna: The court on Monday once again deferred the hearing on the bail application of Manish Ranjan, owner of the building that housed the girls’ hostel, in the ongoing case linked to the alleged rape and mysterious death of a NEET student. The matter has now been posted for March 11.

The court, presided over by the District and Additional Sessions Judge-VI-cum-Pocso court Judge, on Monday stretched for about two hours, during which there were intense arguments between the counsel for the victim’s family and the CBI representative. The family’s advocate once more raised concerns about shortcomings and possible lapses in how the probe was conducted.


Opposing these claims, the CBI counsel argued that such criticisms were out of place in a bail proceeding and emphasised that the agency did not require Ranjan’s further involvement or custody at this stage, as noted in the formal submission. The investigating officer of the special investigation team (SIT), Anu Kumari, who is also the SDPO of Secretariat, said in the court that they did not need the custody of Ranjan as the case was handed over to the CBI. The investigation officer (IO) of the agency, Pawan Kumar Shrivastava, also mentioned that they did not need the hostel building owner.

Representing the victim’s side, lawyer S K Pandey sharply criticised the manner in which the central agency was handling the case. He pointed out that charges under the Pocso Act were intentionally dropped by the CBI in its FIR. He also alleged evidence manipulation by the officers.

During the hearing, the court show-caused the jailer of Beur central jail for failing to produce Ranjan in the court even once over an extended period.

This latest hearing followed two previous deferrals of the bail proceedings. The delays occurred earlier due to incomplete submissions and responses from the probe teams, including the CBI and the SIT, along with the need for more detailed updates on the investigation’s status.

Ranjan has been in judicial custody following his arrest in mid-Jan. The case, which began under local police after the student’s death in Jan, was handed over to the CBI amid growing public demands and doubts over the initial inquiry. Forensic and postmortem evidence pointed towards sexual assault on the minor.