Guwahati, Aug. 8: Two youths accused of murdering Jhankar Saikia were granted bail by Gauhati High Court.

A single-judge bench of Justice B.D. Agarwal yesterday granted accused Sarlongri Terang and Binong Terang — both 18 — bail for an amount of Rs 25,000 and a surety of similar amount.

A group of autorickshaw drivers allegedly beat up Jhankar, a BA first year student of Diphu College, and his father Haren Saikia, a lawyer, at Diphu in Karbi Anglong district on June 25 after they reportedly refused to pay Rs 30 instead of the “legitimate” fare of Rs 20. As the auto drivers were thrashing both father and son, a few bystanders called police but the cops allegedly pushed the youth towards the mob. Jhankar, critically injured in the scuffle, was shifted to a private hospital here. He died on July 1.

During the hearing of the bail petitions, counsel for the petitioner, P.N. Goswami, submitted in court that the youths did not take part in the physical assault. Considering that both were in jail for more than one month, Justice Agarwal decided to grant them bail.

Public prosecutor Ziaul Kamar told the court that the investigation into the case has been handed over to the CID and the video footage of the incident has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory to identify the persons who attacked the victim and his father, who was also injured.

A Guwahati-based lawyer, Bhaskar Dev Konwar, had also lodged a PIL seeking a CBI or CID probe into the incident. He urged the court to fast-track the case and transfer it to a neighbouring district to facilitate the witnesses to appear before the court without any fear or influence.

The next hearing of the PIL is on September 3.