The murder site

Jamshedpur, June 4: Defence counsel Tapas Mitra moved a petition seeking bail for his client Vishal Bedi, the main accused in the Rakesh Uppal murder case, in the court of chief judicial magistrate Deepak Kumar here today.

Mitra, arguing that the police had failed to submit a chargesheet in the case at the expiry of a stipulated 90-day period, expressed hope that the court would grant bail to the accused.

The court set June 6 as the date of hearing of the petition.

Rakesh Uppal, a 42-year-old Calcutta-based leather exporter had been killed in a freak-firing incident on the terrace of Hotel Sonnet in Bistupur during a cocktail party on the night of March 5. Adityapur-based industrialist and BJP leader Yogesh Malhotra had thrown the party on the eve of his nephew’s wedding and Uppal was among the 35 invitees who had reached the steel city on that eventful day.

Police had arrested two persons, including Malhotra’s relative Vishal Bedi, on the night of the incident.

According to eyewitnesses, some highly inebriated guests had taken away Malhotra’s bodyguard S.K. Mishra’s service revolver for fun. A shot was fired in the air after which the revolver’s trigger jammed. The second shot went off and hit Uppal while Bedi was trying to set the gun right. Uppal was rushed to Tata Main Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Inspector of Bistupur police station P.K. Singh, who is also the investigating officer in the case, however, claimed that he submitted a chargesheet in the case today.

“We submitted a chargesheet today, which is within the stipulated period as per norms. We hope the accused does not get bail,” Singh said.