Pune:
The eight second-year BSc students of the College of Agriculture, who were arrested in a case of ragging by the Shivajinagar police late on Monday, were released on Tuesday after furnishing a surety of Rs 10,000 each.
On Tuesday, the students were produced before the chief judicial magistrate, VK Kadam, who remanded them in magisterial custody for 14 days, but released them on a surety of Rs 10,000 each after their lawyer moved a bail plea.
However, the magistrate has directed the suspects to present themselves at the Shivajinagar police station every Monday morning till the chargesheet is filed.
The Shivajinagar police had on November 24 registered an offence after BR Ulmek, associate dean and principal of the college, filed an official complaint against nine students after the college internal committee found them involved in ragging.
The arrested students were charged under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, which included intent to cause hurt, criminal intimidation, voluntarily causing hurt and unlawful assembly. They were also charged under relevant sections of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1999.
The suspects were identified as Shailesh Shahaji Wagh (19) from Beed, Chetan Gautam Waghmare (20) of Osmanabad, Vinod Gorakhnath Kasture (21) of Nanded, Vikas Ratneshwar Kakde (20), Sachin Yashwantrao Raut (20) and Deepak Jaisingh Wagh of Nashik, Sanket Shivaji Bhadange (18) of Jalna and Gajanan Narayanrao Garad (20) of Hingoli.
The police are on the lookout for the ninth suspect, Pramod Batane, who is absconding.
Inspector Maya Bankar said, "After the FIR was lodged we were searching for the students. Parents of the suspects approached us and we assured them that there would be no harm if they surrendered. Now we are looking for Batane with the help of college authorities."
The victims, Pravin Gopalrao Shelke (Jalna), Ashok Shivajirao Shewale (Beed), Pravin Surve and Amol Borkar (Wasim), had complained of ragging by 12 students. The alleged ragging took place on October 7 and 17 this year.
As per the complaint, the freshers were beaten up when they failed to obey their seniors' orders of paying their hotel bills and completing their practical journal work. The incident came to light when one of the victims, unable to bear the torture, complained about it to his uncle a week ago.
The college authorities will decide on the course of action against the suspects as per the Ragging Act. "On Saturday a committee comprising members of the tehsildar, police inspectors, members of some NGOs and colleges conducted an in-camera hearing of the students who had ragged the juniors," sources said.
According to sources, the fate of the students would be decided shortly by the college authorities.
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