Tapas gets bail after 13 months

Actor-turned-politician and Trinamool Congress (TMC) Member of West Bengal Local Assembly Tapas Paul, whose comments in 2014 on rape created nationwide outrage, was granted bail by the Orissa High Court, after 13 months of his being arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation, reports ANA. On June 14, 2014, Paul courted controversy, by saying that he and his men would rape members of CPIM and their families if anything happened to TMC workers. “If any of the members of the Opposition parties touches any TMC girl, any father, or child, I will finish their family. I will let loose my boys; they will rape them,” he was quoted as saying. After a bond of Rs 1 crore was deposited on Saturday and his passport was surrendered at the court, he was released. He spent the night at a friend’s place and on Sunday he had left for Kolkata. He regretted making those comments. “I have not done anything wrong in my entire life. I had said something in 2014, which was very wrong. It was my mistake. I would like to apologise to the entire nation for it.” He added that he would meet his doctors in Kolkata and if need be would undergo some medical check-ups and in about a month he would hopefully get back to acting. Actor-turned-Trinamool Congress MLA Chiranjeet is happy that his Tollywood co-actor-turned-Trinamool MP Tapas Paul has been finally granted bail. He wants Tapas to be back in the film industry soon.