A court here Tuesday granted bail to model-turned-actress Preeti Jain, charged with conspiring to murder filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar.

Sessions judge Abhay Thipsay granted bail to Jain against a bond of Rs.15,000.

Jain, who was arrested Sep 10, was asked to surrender her passport to police and was restrained from leaving Mumbai without the court's permission.

Thipsay said though police had a prima facie case against Jain, her custody at this juncture was not necessary. He noted Jain was unlikely to abscond if she was granted bail.

Naresh Pardeshi, the alleged aide of gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli, who was arrested with Jain on the same charges, continues to be in custody.

Police said Jain allegedly paid Rs.70,000 to Pardeshi to have Bhandarkar killed. Jain had accused Bhandarkar in July last year of sexually molesting her.