Jamshedpur, July 17: Hotelier Vinod Singh, the prime suspect in the Ashish Dey murder case, got bail from Jharkhand High Court this afternoon.

He was released from Sakchi jail this evening.

Singh, the owner of Citi Inn on NH-33, was picked up by East Singhbhum district police from his residence on February 14, 2008, and remanded to judicial custody on February 16. He was arrested after suspects Jitendra Singh alias Pappu hinted that Singh was behind the murder.

Pappu had said that Singh had given him Rs 3,000 and had engaged dreaded criminal Akhilesh Singh and his brother Amlesh to provide firearms for the killing. The police had submitted the narco-analysis report of Pappu in the district judge court, and finally in the high court, during the hearing of the bail petition.

The prosecution maintained that Singh conspired to murder shoe baron Ashish Dey due to a dispute over land.

Sources said Singh had engaged senior Supreme Court advocates to argue for him during the hearing of the bail petition on Tuesday. The bench had reserved the judgement for today.

Defence lawyer advocate A.K. Singh said the police had submitted a supplementary case diary in the high court during the hearing.

The case diary mentions that a person called Thapa had seen the suspected killer of Ashish Dey at Citi Inn, the defence lawyer said. Hearing the police, the judge asked why Thapa was not interrogated.

Ashish Dey (52), the owner of Sreeleathers showroom in Sakchi and Hotel Smita, was gunned down by unidentified assailants in Aambagan on November 2 last year. About 13 days after the murder, the police had arrested Jitendra Singh Pappu.