Ashok Kumar Agarwal. Telegraph picture

Patna, July 25: A Katihar court today rejected the bail petition of BJP MLC Ashok Kumar Agarwal, who has been accused of killing his employee Dheeraj Kumar.

Chief judicial magistrate (in-charge) Raj Kumar turned town the incarcerated MLC's plea to grant him bail. He handed over a copy of the court's decision to the petitioner’s counsel after district public prosecutor Ajay Kumar Gupta vehemently opposed it.

The public prosecutor said the petitioner should not be released on bail keeping in view the seriousness of the offence for which he has been arrested. “Moreover, he may influence the investigation of the case,” Gupta contended.

Kumar heard both the parties and then rejected Agarwal’s petition.

The court also raised serious objection over the inordinate delay in submitting the seizure list. It sought an explanation from investigating officer Madan Kumar as to why the list of the seized articles was submitted in the court on July 21 even as the incident occurred on July 17.

“The reply should reach the court within a week,” the court ordered. It also sought to know why a policeman, other than the investigating officer, was assigned to submit the seizure list. “It is investigating officer’s responsibility to submit the list with the copy of the FIR,” the court said.

Agarwal was forwarded to judicial custody on Monday after his statement differed from the findings of the forensic team, which collected evidence from the spot. He is at present lodged in Katihar divisional jail.

BJP state president C.P. Thakur had suspended him soon after the police took him into custody on July 23 and produced in the court concerned.

Dheeraj (30) was killed in the guardroom of Agarwal’s residence-cum-petrol pump in Katihar, about 325km northeast of the state capital, after he reportedly refused to go to a road construction site in Araria district where Agarwal’s firm was executing some work. The victim’s brother, Neeraj, had made Agarwal a named accused in the case besides three-four unknown persons. Agarwal had, however, claimed that Dheeraj was killed after stray bullets hit him because of accidental firing from the carbine of one of his bodyguards.

Agarwal, a renowned industrialist of the Seemanchal area, was named accused in several cases, including the murder of one Vijay Kumar Thakur, earlier.