Pradyuman murder case: CBI reaches Ryan International School

Gurugram: A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team on Saturday reached Ryan International School to probe the murder case of Class II student Pradyuman Thakur.

The CBI on Friday registered an FIR in the killing of the seven-year-old kid.

Pradyuman was found dead, lying in a pool of blood, with his throat slit in the washroom of Ryan International school in Bhondsi area on Sohna Road on September 8.

The three-member CBI team is expected to question the school staff in connection with Pradyuman murder case.

The CBI registered the case under the sections of the murder, arms act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Juvenile Justice Act.

Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana government had last week handed over the sensational murder case to the country's premier probe agency.

Khattar had made the announcement after he met the victim's parents at their residence. He had further announced that Haryana government will take over the management of the school for next three months.

Police have alleged that 42-year-old bus conductor Ashok Kumar killed the Class II student with a knife after the boy resisted an attempt to sodomise him. Kumar has been arrested.

The case has snowballed into a major national issue concerning safety and security of children in private schools, with vociferous protests by parents and activists outside the Ryan schools in several states including Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

The post-mortem report of seven-year-old Pradyuman has ruled out sexual assault even as the parent of another schoolchild claimed the crime scene was tampered with even though he had cautioned otherwise.

Bus driver Saurabh Raghav has said the knife used in the killing was not kept in the bus tool box, as claimed by accused conductor Ashok Kumar, adding that police pressurised him also to admit to being an accomplice in the crime.

Varun Thakur said there were "too many loopholes" in the police theory and the school management's stand on the murder.

Pradyuman's father has moved the Supreme Court for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the case.