Four days after the brutal murder of seven-year-old student of Ryan International School, Pradyuman Thakur, it seems that the case is facing the same fate as that of Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case which came into limelight few years back.
Aarushi, the teen daughter of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, was found dead in a pool of blood in her bedroom in May 2008. In a shocking end to the murder mystery, Talwars were later found guilty of killing their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj by the special Ghaziabad court.
The initial loopholes in Aarushi case probe derailed the investigation for years, with the chain of events happening in the recent Pradyuman murder case, are we heading towards the same path?
Though the police have claimed that bus conductor Ashok Kumar was inside the toilet when Pradyuman entered and he was the one who had grabbed Pradyuman with the intention of sodomy failing which he had slit the child's throat. However, the conclusions drawn by the police on the basis of their investigation do not sound convincing. Several questions still remain unanswered.
'LOOPHOLES' IN RYAN INTERNATIONAL MURDER CASE
Pradyuman Thakur's father Varun claims he had dropped his son and daughter at the Ryan International School at 7:55 am on Friday. He later got a call from the school management at 8.10 am informing him about the entire incident.
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.
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.
UNSOLVED MYSTERY
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 feels there is "something fishy" and there are "missing points" in the police theory.
TAKE A LOOK AT THE TOP DEVELOPMENTS IN GURGAON STUDENT MURDER CASE:
September 11
- Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said schools in Delhi will have to undergo mass police verification within three weeks as part of a host of security measures.
- The Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre, the Haryana government and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) after Pradyuman's father sought a CBI investigation into the murder of his son.
- Two top officials of prestigious Ryan International School Group were arrested on Monday after an investigation pointed at serious security lapses at the school. Even the acting principal of the school was detained for questioning following the gruesome murder of the boy on campus, even as the victim's father moved the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe.
- Ryan International Group CEO Ryan Pinto and his parents, who are its founders, approached the Bombay High Court on September 11 to seek anticipatory bail in connection with the child's murder in the chain's Gurgaon school.
September 10
- Hundreds of people staged a demonstration outside the Ryan International School demanding a CBI probe into the murder of a seven-year-old school boy and set afire a liquor shop near the school.
- Meanwhile, the parents of the boy demanded that the school should be shut until a CBI probe is ordered into the incident.
- Regional head of the Ryan group of institutions, Francis Thomas, and HR head Jeyus Thomas were arrested on Sunday. They have been booked under section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
September 9
A report by the Special Investigation Team said many of the CCTV cameras installed in the school campus were not working.
September 8
Pradyuman Thakur was found murdered with his throat slit inside the toilet of Ryan International School on September 8, triggering public outrage. 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.
