USTM Chancellor remanded to judicial custody; to be produced before court on March 18

Guwahati, Mar 14:  The Chancellor of the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM), Mahbubul Haque, who was arrested for allegedly promising students the use of unfair means during exams, was remanded to judicial custody on Thursday by the Sonitpur Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Tezpur, following his arrest by district police.

CJM H J Kashyap heard the pleas of both Haque’s lawyer and the public prosecutor and directed that he should be produced before the court on March 18.

Haque's lawyer had filed a bail petition in court, but it was not heard on the day of the proceedings.

On March 3, the Gauhati High Court granted Haque bail in connection with the first case registered in Sribhumi and a second case in the same district. The high court also restrained his arrest in three other cases in Gossaigaon, Kokrajhar, and Barpeta. However, the Sonitpur police arrested him in connection with another case registered in their district.

Haque, along with five teachers from a school in Patharkandi, Sribhumi district, was arrested on February 22 in Guwahati and sent to 14 days of judicial custody.

He was brought to Guwahati on February 28 from Sribhumi at the Dispur police station and later taken to his residence in the Ghoramara area of the city.

Senior advocate Anshuman Bora and his team represented Haque in court, arguing for his bail. On the other hand, senior public prosecutor Munin Chandra Baruah opposed the bail request and argued for police custody.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier remarked that the USTM chancellor will be in jail for a long time.

Sarma had also alleged that Haque is a “big fraud; his entire background is fraud.”

With inputs from news agency