Ryan school murder: Charge sheet within 7 days; panel to probe if school violated security norms

The police today promised to conclude investigations and file a charge sheet within seven days in the gruesome murder of a seven-year-old in a Gurgaon school on Friday, an incident that sent shockwaves across the country.

The district authorities also formed a three-member panel to find out if Ryan International School, Bhondsi, had followed security norms. The Manohar Lal Khattar led Haryana government, meanwhile, ordered a security review of schools across the state.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) also formed a two-member fact finding committee to probe the incident and sought a report from the school within two days.

Gurgaon Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar claimed that arrested schoolbus conductor Ashok Kumar's involvement as the perpetrator of the heinous crime had come to the fore clearly.

Kumar was inside the toilet, waiting for any student to come inside with the motive of sexual assault. The deceased was the first student who entered the toilet, the Gurgaon police commissioner said.

He said the child resisted Kumar's assault following which the bus conductor murdered him. The child's throat was slit.

"Kumar said he was terrified and had to kill the minor so that he does not disclose the crime to the school management.

He left the knife in the washroom and washed his hands before escaping from there. He pre-planned the crime," Khirwar told PTI.

He said the police will conclude investigations and file a charge sheet within seven days.

We will demand the constitution of a special court for a fast track trial in this case so that the accused can be given a strict punishment, Khirwar said.

"Kumar's clothes and knife, which he used in the crime, have been sent for forensic examination. During his three day police remand, we will re-examine the sequence of crime and probe every detail," the officer said.

Earlier in the day a local court remanded Kumar to three days in police custody.

Khirwar assured that a thorough and professional probe will be carried out.

The accused spoke to some TV channels and on being asked whether he had committed the crime responded in the affirmative.

"I had lost my mind," he said when asked about the motive. Asked about the knife, he said it was already there in the school bus and he had come to wash it.

The grief-stricken family of the child was however said they were not satisfied and sought a CBI probe.

Speaking to mediapersons, the deceased's mother alleged that the school had informed them that the child had fallen after fainting as she demanded a CBI probe.

Angry family members staged a protest for over two hours outside the school premises demanding a CBI probe. They demanded that the school management be booked.

At a press conference, Commissioner Khirwar said that a three member panel comprising the district education officer, block education officer and an officer of the women and child department had been formed to probe any negligence or security lapses by the school management.

The panel will submit its report Monday and on its basis suitable action will be taken, he said.

Khirwar said that the registration of the security agency hired by the school management had been annulled.

The acting principal of Ryan International School was suspended and all the security staff removed.

"The Ryan International School management has suspended acting principal Neerja Batra and removed all the security staff," District Public Relation Officer R S Sangwan said.

After the post-mortem, the boy's body was handed over to his family and his last rites was performed at the cremation ground in Bhondsi where hundreds had gathered.

They raised slogans against Gurgaon MLA, Umesh Aggarwal, Sohna MLA, Tejpal, and Haryana PWD minister, Rao Narbir Singh, who had come to express condolences.

The boy's father, who works as a quality manager with a private firm in Gurgaon, accused the school administration of negligence.

According to forensic expert Deepak Mathur, who conducted the post-mortem, said "The deceased had two cuts on his neck.

His throat was almost completely slit. Hemorrhage and excessive blood loss caused the death".

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar condemned the crime terming the incident as "heinous and unfortunate." Those guilty will not be spared, he said adding that the concerned authorities were asked to file a challan within seven days.

"We will appeal to the court to give harsh punishment to the accused as early as possible," he said.

Patting the district administration for "acting swiftly", he said that the school bus conductor had been arrested.

Khattar said that a security review of schools across the state would be conducted.

HRD minister Prakash Javadekar also termed the incident as "unfortunate" and assured that justice would be done.

Several protests over the murder were held all over the city and traffic was disrupted in many parts. Part of busy Delhi-Jaipur highway, Alwar-Sohna road and a few arterial roads were blocked.

Ryan International School issued a statement saying that "Following the tragic incident at our school yesterday, the school authorities have seriously taken up the review of the security measures at the school. All necessary improvements and measures are being audited and reinforced with the help of experts."

We are also seeking advice from the Police department to guide us in this regard, it said.

"While, we are all in great shock and grief at the loss of life of our beloved student, we are taking these steps simultaneously to ensure vigorous safety measures in place for all our students and staff. We are closely working with the investigating authorities so that we could be guided further with their expertise," the school statement said.

The accused, Kumar, is a resident of Ghamdoj village in Sohna and was hired by school bus contractor around seven months ago, the police said.

Villagers in Ghamdoj alleged Kumar had been framed and said he had no previous history of being involved in any crime.

The CBSE said that it had formed a fact finding committee to look into the incident.

"V Arun Kumar, principal of Govt Senior Secondary School in Preet Vihar and Kailash Chand, Deputy Commissioner at KVS, have been appointed as the panel members. The panel will have to visit the school within 30 days and submit a report no later than October 16," an official added.