Don’t think cops have right killer, says murdered Gurugram schoolboy’s father, seeks CBI probe

GURUGRAM: The family of Pradhyumn isn’t convinced by the arrest of Ashok Kumar, the prime suspect in the boy’s murder. Though police believe Ashok tried to sexually assault the boy and killed him when he resisted, Pradhyumn’s family members want a CBI probe.

The uncle of the boy said the school and Pradhyumn’s parents had a running row on fee hike and sought an investigation into the role of the school staff. Senior students of Ryan also said they were shocked at the conductor’s arrest as his behaviour had never raised any suspicion.

“I don’t suspect the conductor to be involved. We want a CBI inquiry in the case. We want Gurgaon police to cooperate with the inquiry. We don’t have any problem with police investigation, but we want this case to be investigated at the micro level,” Pradhyumn’s father

Barun

Chand Thakur said, addressing a press conference at their

Shyam Kunj

residence on Saturday evening.

“However, we appeal to everyone to remain peaceful during the course of action. We have full trust in the administration,” he added.

The victim’s relatives expressed scepticism over the official version of Gurgaon police that Ashok killed the child. “Police have arrested a poor bus conductor. We think he is innocent. The government is trying to shield the school. The school may have been aggrieved with my brother because he did not budge to the demand of annual fee hike,” said Mukesh Kumar, Pradhyumn’s uncle.

Ghan Shayam, a neighbour said, “Arrest has been done but this is not the right person. Police need to arrest Neerja Batra, (suspended) teacher in-charge and the school authorities.”

Ramesh Rana, president of Haryana Parents Forum for Education, said, “We saw his statement. It does not appear that a criminal would confess to a crime with a degree of candour that he has. We demand a fair and thorough investigation of the case by CBI.”

Some senior students of the school also said that Ashok’s behaviour had never raised any suspicion. “I still can't believe that Ashok bhaiya can do this. I see him almost regularly in the bus and school campus. His behaviour with students is very good. We never even saw him verbally abusing any student,” said a student of Class 7.

Some students claimed that Kumar used to rest on the school playground for hours as there was no waiting area for support staff to sit in the school. “The conductor used to sit on the playground. We play football in the ground, sometimes, for a long time. We never had any suspicion on the conductor. We never saw him looking at students differently,” said a student of Class VIII.


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