New Delhi, July 31: The CBI today filed a chargesheet against sacked Assam education minister Ripun Bora, arrested along with two others for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs 10 lakh to an officer of the investigating agency, to “negotiate” the outcome of a murder case in which he is a suspect.        

A CBI spokesman said the chargesheet was filed against Bora, journalist Mukul Pathak and businessman Ramesh Maheswari before the special judge under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and Section 12 of Prevention of Corruption Act.        

As the chargesheet was filed Bora and the two other accused continued to be in jail, having been denied bail by the court. Their bail application will be heard again on August 2.

Bora was arrested when he was allegedly trying to bribe a CBI officer probing the murder of student leader and Bora’s political rival, Daniel Topno. The former minister was arrested on June 3 from Sundar Nagar on Mathura Road in south Delhi when he was allegedly offering the bribe to the officer, deputy superintendent of police A.B. Gupta. The remaining Rs 7 lakh was supposed to be paid later.

Pathak, a journalist with a Guwahati-based Assamese daily, and Maheswari, both of whom were accompanying Bora, were also arrested by the CBI.

Topno, the district president of the All Assam Tea Tribe Students’ Union, was Bora’s rival candidate during the 1996 Assembly elections.

The CBI was handed over the investigation of the case in 2001 after Assam police could not make any headway into the murder that took place on September 27, 2000.

Bora, who had a long innings as Assam PCC spokesman, is a suspect in the murder case and had been questioned several times by the CBI. He claimed to have approached the CBI officer through the middleman for negotiating the outcome of the investigation into the murder case.

The former education minister continued to claim his innocence in court, saying a political conspiracy had been hatched against him. The CBI had opposed his bail application on the ground that he could influence the investigations in the case.

The court had tended to agree since Maheswari’s driver Sanjay had refused to record his statement under Section 164 CrPC. The driver’s name had cropped up during investigations since he was present at the spot.

Bora has been elected thrice to the Assembly from Gohpur constituency in Sonitpur district.

Ironically, soon after he took charge of his portfolio two years ago, Bora launched an anti-corruption drive in his department, suspending several people for allegedly taking bribes and abstaining from work.

CBI sources said the probe into the Topno murder case has been re-opened on the directions of the high court. The CBI had filed the chargesheet in the case before it was reopened on court’s orders. Bora’s lawyer had claimed that the chargesheet in the murder case did not name the former minister.