While the Odisha High Court on Monday adjourned the hearing of the bail application of Satyam Raul, adopted son of godman Santosh Raul alias Sarathi Baba, a lower court here refused to grant bail to the three arrested acquaintances of Satyam. The trio had allegedly helped Satyam escape to Mumbai to evade arrest last month receiving a whopping payment of Rs 20 lakh from the latter.
After Satyam’s bail applications were rejected by the Cuttack SDJM Court and a Special SC and ST Court, the 20-year-old youth had moved the High Court for regular bail. But the HC could not hear the plea when the prosecution sought some more time to submit the case diaries. The matter would now come up for hearing again on September 22.
SDJM Bibaswat Gautam rejected the bail applications of Satyam’s associates Pilashki Swain, Biswajit Patnaik and Harish Chandra Das when the prosecution vehemently opposed them, saying the investigations into the case are still on. The three were arrested by the Crime Branch police on September 1 from Bhubaneswar and retrieved from them nearly `17 lakh. The SDJM Court also on the day completed hearing on an application filed by Satyam and reserved its verdict to be pronounced on Tuesday. Satyam had appealed to the court to allow him to stay in the same cell in which his father Santosh is lodged.