One of the main accused in the Mehar Bhargava murder case on Thursday retracted his statement before the media that he had fired the fatal shot.

Sunny Rawat, who was arrested on Wednesday, told Chief Judicial Magistrate Dharam Raj Mishra that he had made the statement under duress.

Thereafter, the CJM turned down an application by the police seeking to record his confessional statement in the court.

Earlier in the day, Rawat had said, "I had fired the shot at Mehar after having an altercation with her on February 28."

The court granted bail to Menon and sent Rawat, who had been charged with the murder, to judicial custody till April 13.