Ryan International school murder case: CBI to probe case; Haryana govt to control institution for 3 months

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the probe into the brutal murder of seven-year-old Pradhyumn Thakur, who was found murdered at his Gurugram school on 8 September.

Khattar visited the Thakur residence on Friday and met the grieving parents. Speaking to reporters outside their residence, he condemned the incident and said the CBI will take over the investigation from the Haryana Police.

However, he didn’t respond to questions about why there was a one-week delay in handing over the case and if there was any lapse by the state police.

The chief minister also said that the Haryana government will take over the management of the Ryan International School in Gurugram for the next three months.

This comes just a day after the Gurugram Police had detained the school’s gardener, Harpal Singh, a key witness in the murder of Pradhyumn, and said it’s “likely” to arrest more persons. The gardener was detained by the police’s special investigation team (SIT) probing the case.

Pradhyumn was found with his throat slit in the washroom of the school. The school bus conductor Ashok Kumar has emerged as the prime suspect and has been arrested.

“The SIT does not want to leave out a single piece of evidence which can be important and work as a key breakthrough for us to solve this case. With three days left for submission of chargesheet in court, we have got possible positive leads against Ashok Kumar,” a senior SIT officer told PTI. “Some more arrests are likely to be made,” he said.

SIT teams on Wednesday searched the school for clues while a CBSE panel also inspected the premises to examine loopholes in security arrangements.

Besides Harpal Singh, the SIT has questioned 17 persons including section in-charge Anju Dudeja, suspended acting principal Neerja Batra, former principal Rakhi Verma, bus driver Saurabh Raghav, bus contractor Harkesh Pradhan and eight security guards.

The officer said all suspects who are on the police radar, whether it is the suspended school principal, senior management officials or staff members, are being questioned.

With inputs from agencies