The Gurgaon Police claimed to have cracked the case of the brutal murder of seven-year-old Pradyuman inside the premises of Ryan International School in Gurugram within 24 hours and have arrested a bus conductor as the accused in the crime.
On Monday, the police also arrested two top functionaries of the school saying there was an attempt to destroy evidence in the case.
Pradyuman, a class II student of the high-profile Ryan International School, was found dead on the morning of September 8 after his throat was slit with a sharp-edged weapon.
The police have claimed that bus conductor Ashok Kumar was inside the toilet when Pradyuman entered and grabbed him with the intention of sodomy and when he failed, he slit the child's throat.
However, the conclusions drawn by the police on the basis of their investigation do not sound convincing. For, there are several questions that remain unanswered.
Timeline of events
According to Pradyuman's father Varun Thakur, he had dropped his son and daughter at the Ryan International School at 7:55 am on Friday. Thakur claimed he received a call from the school management at 8.10 am informing him about his son found bleeding inside the washroom.
Saurabh Raghav, a driver of the school bus in which accused Ashok Kumar worked as conductor, entered the school at the same time where Kumar was helping to de-board the students and helped him to park the bus outside at the parking lot, which often takes five minutes.
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This means that the crime took place within 10 minutes, between 8 am and 8.10 am. It would take Pradyuman at least 2-3 minutes to reach the main building straight away covering around 400 meters from the gate, while Kumar would spend at least 5-7 minutes in the bus before heading there, the source said.
Unanswered questions
1- The special investigation team (SIT) of Gurgaon Police have told a Sohna court that evidence from the scene of crime had been tampered with, and that it suspects the involvement of a third person. Police are yet to give more details on who might be behind the destruction of evidence.
2- The SIT suspects involvement of a third person, who may have escaped from one of the windows of the toilet which has broken window and is located on the ground floor.
Who is this 'third person'?
3- Circumstances explained by the father indicate that the boy entered the toilet first and the possibility of Kumar already being there was less, a source was quoted as saying by the PTI. However, the police have said that Kumar was inside the toilet when Pradyuman entered and grabbed him with the intention of sodomy and when he failed, he slit the child's throat.
Why this inconsistency in the versions of police and the father?
4- Police have said that the bus conductor used a knife, which was in the tool box inside the vehicle, to kill the boy. However, bus driver Raghav told India TV that the knife was never a part of the tool box.
Whose version do we believe?
5- PTI reported that Raghav has claimed that the police and the school management forced him to give a wrong statement against the conductor that the knife, which was allegedly used in the crime, was part of tool kit and kept in the bus. Raghav alleged he was beaten up and tortured in police custody to give the statement. The police have not responded to the claim.
Pradyuman's father has moved Supreme Court seeking CBI investigation into the matter. Thakur said he feels there is "something fishy" and there are "missing points" in the police theory.
The Supreme Court yesterday sought the response of the Centre, Haryana, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and CBI police on his father's plea seeking a CBI probe into it and framing of guidelines to ensure safety of children.
