Court grants bail in blasts case

Patna: Special National Investigation Agency judge Anil Kumar Singh on Thursday granted Tabis Neyaz regular bail in connection with the Patna serial bomb blasts case.

The court, in its order, said six months had elapsed since Neyaz’s arrest but no chargesheet had been filed till now. Neyaz, arrested from Ranchi, was remanded in judicial custody on November 12.

Three in net, pistol found

Muzaffarpur: Three criminals were arrested from an area under the jurisdiction of Minapur police station on Thursday afternoon. Police also recovered a sophisticated pistol from them. Deputy superintendent of police (east) Rakesh Kumar said the police also recovered a bike from the trio.

Demise

Patna: Eminent physician and social activist Dr Pijushendu Gupta breathed his last on Thursday. He was unwell for quite some time. He is survived by two sons, including Shaibal Gupta, the member secretary of Asian Development Research Institute, two daughters-in-law and grandchildren.

Varsity dates

Patna: Indira Gandhi National Open University has extended the last date for admission to its academic programmes starting from July. Students can take admission in different courses till July 8, a press note from the university said.

BJP power jab

Patna: The BJP on Thursday accused the state government of paying no heed to the people’s problems because of long power cuts in different parts of the state. In a statement, party spokesperson Suresh Rungta said the government’s attention was focused on ways to survive in power and issues related to the people had been put on the backburner.

Hospital order

Patna: The high court on Thursday summoned the chief secretary, principal secretary (health), secretary (health), and director-in-chief of health services on June 26 in a matter related to the revamp of a mental hospital in Bihar. The order was passed by the division bench of Justice V.N. Sinha and Justice Prabhat Kumar Jha. Earlier, the court had taken suo motu cognisance of the matter, expressing displeasure over the government’s apathy in building a mental hospital in the state. The government had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in 2002, stating that the hospital would be revamped in three years and have an indoor facility with 500 beds.

Crash death

Ara: An agriculture department official in Bhojpur district, Sunil Kumar Srivastava, died in a head-on collision near Pir Baba Mazaar under the jurisdiction of Town police station on Thursday. The autorickshaw he was travelling in collided with a speeding bus. He died on the spot. His body was later brought to the sadar hospital for post-mortem.