Deputy bank manager granted bail

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted bail to G S Jobun Fen, deputy manager of the HDFC Bank’s Kottayam branch and the second accused of the case in which a nursing student had committed suicide.Shruthi, a second year BSc Nursing student, had committed suicide after the bank officials allegedly denied her an education loan. Jobun was named the second accused after he was found to have signed the letter that led to the rejection of her loan application, the police said. He was arrested on May 5 and was remanded in judicial custody. The prosecution submitted that the accused were unjustifiably rejected the application for loan citing ‘silly’ reasons.However, the petitioner contended that he had no role in granting or rejecting education loans.Justice N K Balakrishnan directed the petitioner to execute a bond for Rs 50,000 with two solvent sureties each for the like amount. The accused should appear before the investigating officer on alternate Saturdays and should produce the passport before the magistrate court, the court held.