Gurgaon School Murder: CBI arrests class XI student for murder, says conductor is innocent

In a complete twist in the Ryan School murder case, in which a seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur was brutally killed in the washroom of the school on September 8, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Class 11 student of Ryan International School in Gurugram in connection with the September 8 murder of a Class 2 student, official sources said on Wednesday.

Reportedly, the CBI arrested a senior student based on the CCTV camera footage which showed him coming out of the toilet of the school at the time of the crime. The investigative agency also confirmed that the school bus conductor who was earlier arrested had no role in the crime.

Ashok, the bus conductor was taken into custody by Haryana police within hours of the barbaric crime, but since the beginning it looked like he was being framed.

The CBI spokesperson, confirming Ashok’s non-involvement, said that the class 11 student carried out the crime to get the examination cancelled and the scheduled parent-teacher meeting postponed.

Ashok’s lawyer, Mohit Verma told NH that he expects his client to be discharged soon. Verma told NH, “the case has certainly moved and after the student is presented in front of the juvenile court at 2 pm today, we hope a step to release Ashok will be taken too. We are hopeful now but it all rests in the hands of the CBI.”

Om Prakash Chopra, a close associate of Ashok’s family, told NH, “umeed ki kirne ugne lagi hain” (rays of hopes have emerged), adding, “but we will not rest until Ashok is released.” Chopra, about a month ago, had claimed talking exclusively to NH, “koi bail application nahi denge, hum use ba-izzat bari karaenge,” (we will not file any bail applications, he will come out all clean) and on Wednesday he said, “now he will definitely come out clean.”

Barun Thakur, Pradyuman’s father was quoted by Amar Ujala as saying, “I was always saying the conductor was not the killer. Earlier Thakur had told NH, “I’ve complete faith in the CBI and it will most certainly find the real culprit.”

Earlier in the day, a senior student’s father claimed that his son was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday. Speaking to news agency ANI, father of the student said: “They (CBI) arrested my son last night. My son has not committed the crime, he informed the gardener and teachers.”

According to sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation, the senior student was seen with a knife inside the school campus on the day the seven-year-old was killed with his throat slit in a school bathroom.

The arrested student is suspected of having watched a pornographic clip in the morning, and on seeing Pradyuman Thakur in the school bathroom, he might have tried to sexually assault him when he entered it, minutes after he was dropped by his father, reported IANS.

The student will now be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board in the afternoon, where the court is expected to decide whether he is to be treated as a major or a minor as per the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

The Haryana Police had afterwards claimed that Pradyuman was killed by school bus conductor Ashok Kumar inside the toilet as the boy resisted a bid to sodomise him.

After Kumar’s arrest, Pradyuman's parents and two other staffers had constantly claimed that he was being made a scapegoat.

With inputs from IANS