Irfan Alam. Telegraph picture

Patna, May 14: Irfan Alam, chairman-cum-managing director of Samman Foundation, was released from the Shastrinagar police station today.

Alam, who was arrested on Friday on the charge of abducting, wrongfully confining and assaulting a software engineer, Navendra alias Navendu, was granted bail on the directive of the senior police officers.

Alam was invited to a dinner by US president Barack Obama in 2010 for working with rickshaw pullers and designing rickshaws to smarten up and help boost their daily earnings.

“We released Alam on bail from the police station after the allegations against him were found not true during the supervision of the case,” said a police officer posted at Shastrinagar police station.

The officer, on the condition of anonymity, said counter FIRs were lodged at the police station in connection with the incident.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar confirmed the release of Alam and said that both Alam and Navendu had lodged counter FIRs at Shastrinagar police station.

“But investigation is still on,” he said, adding that the chargesheet would be submitted in the court on the basis of evidence gathered against the accused persons in the course of investigation.

During investigation, it came to light that both the accused and the complainant had cordial relations.

“Preliminary investigations suggested that Navendu was a frequent visitor to the office of Alam’s organisation near Jagdeo Path and he was reluctant to pay back the money to Alam, which he had given him (Navendu) for developing the organisation’s website,” an investigating officer said. A senior police officer, however, said that marks of injury were found on Navendu's face.