PATNA, NOVEMBER 7: A local court on Wednesday granted bail to JD(U) MLA Anant Singh and five others arrested on charges of assaulting journalists here last week.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Raghvendra Singh granted bail to all the accused on the basis of the injury report of the journalists hurt in the assault. The injury report showed that neither NDTV reporter Prakash Singh nor his cameraman Habib Ali had received grievous injuries after which the court set aside Section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder). “The injury report showed that the two journalists had only bruises and chest pain,” said a lawyer. Apart from 307, all other sections were bailable.

Four other associates of the MLA, who were arrested for a second attack on journalists who had gathered outside the residence of the MLA, were also granted bail.

Singh was arrested last week after he and his men confined and assaulted the NDTV reporter and cameraman. In his complaint, the reporter had charged that Singh, builder Mukesh Singh and his private bodyguard Bipin Singh held him and his cameraman hostage and made an attempt on their life. The team had gone to Singh’s residence to record the MLA’s reaction on allegations of his involvement in a rape and murder case.

The attack had caused an outrage forcing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to recommend a CBI probe. Opposition parties in the state had called a Bihar bandh a day later.