Arman Khatri, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay student who was arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of fellow student Darshan Solanki, has been granted bail by a special court in Mumbai.
Solanki died after allegedly jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building on the IITB campus in Powai on February 12, a day after the semester exams ended. A special investigation team (SIT) of Mumbai police found a one-line note from Solanki's room saying, “Arman has killed me” three weeks later.
Khatri was arrested on April 9 by the city crime branch's SIT and was booked under charges of abetment to suicide and criminal intimidation of the Indian Penal Code and under the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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As per the police, two days before his death, Solanki had allegedly made a communal remark in a conversation with Khatri, following which the latter threatened Solanki with a paper cutter. Solanki was visibly scared by this incident and had suffered from a fever that night, the police claimed.
As per police, Solanki had sent WhatsApp messages to Khatri apologising for the remark and saying that he was going back home and leaving Mumbai. According to the bail plea filed by Khatri, there was no evidence to show that he had directly abetted Solanki's suicide. It further said that Solanki's parents had never levelled any allegations against Khatri in their complaint to the police. The plea added that Khatri was a young student with no criminal antecedents, and such incarceration would hamper his future.
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The special court granted Khatri bail and directed him to furnish cash bail of Rs 25,000. His advocate, Dinesh Gupta, confirmed the development. Khatri’s bail plea stated that he was targeted and implicated in the case, and there was no evidence to support the allegations made against him.
(With PTI inputs)
