Ryan murder case: CBI denies torture charges levied by father of accused

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday refuted the allegations levelled by the father of the accused student in the Pradyuman murder case that his son was being tortured in the custody.

Earlier in the day, the father of the Ryan International School student claimed his son to be 'innocent' and said that he was being beaten up by the probe agency.

Talking to media, father of the accused Class 11 student on Saturday said, "My son is being tortured. He was hung upside down and brutally thrashed. He is completely innocent. Only one parents-teachers meet (PTM) had happened till now and all teachers had praised my son's performance and behaviour."

 

"Do you think such a young boy would behave normally for so many days, had he committed such a serious crime?" he asked.

He further stated that the CBI raided his house on September 28 and took the clothes, laptop, phone and notebook of his son for investigation.

Meanwhile, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on Saturday sought a clarification from the CBI based on an application filed by the accused's father as to why it violated the timings of interrogation of the juvenile delinquent.

In the application, the father of the accused has alleged the probe agency of flouting the rules and urged to take appropriate action against the CBI for violating the orders of the court.

 

"The CBI officials/ investigating officer has openly flouted the orders of the board, whereby this board had specifically directed the CBI officials to conduct enquiry of the juvenile delinquent between 10 am to 6 pm during the course of enquiry for three days.The above observations of this board has been clearly been violated by the CBI," he pointed out.

He further accused the CBI of coming up with false evidences in order to implicate the juvenile and to justify their action of arresting him.

Meanwhile, the accused student has been sent to Faridabad observation home where he will be kept till November 22.

"The boy has been sent to Faridabad observation home till November 22, which is also the date of next hearing," Sandeep Aneja, lawyer of the minor accused said.

The sources said the team reached the school at around noon along with the accused and remained there for over three hours before taking him to the juvenile court where a hearing was scheduled.

The team asked the teenager to explain the events that took place on September 8 morning when Pradhuman, a class 2 student of the school, was allegedly killed by him, they said.

He was asked to explain entire chain of events, even the smallest of the details, that unfolded on that day as the team took various measurements and recorded time, among others, needed to commit the crime as part of a corroborative exercise, they said, adding it was done to ascertain the claims of the accused.

The sources said CBI officials also used a dummy in the form of a soft toy to ask him how he allegedly killed Pradhuman.

Earlier, the CBI produced the accused, who is a minor, before the JJB and demanded his six-day custody.

The accused also confessed to his crime in front of his father, the CBI had told a juvenile court.

The CBI said that the accused committed the crime in order to postpone the parents-teachers meeting and the exams.

The murder case of the seven-year-old took a new dimension on Wednesday after the CBI arrested the class 11 student of the Ryan International School and gave a clean chit to the bus conductor, arrested on the charges of murder and sexual assault.

The sources said the juvenile court has appointed an independent welfare officer to monitor the investigation and questioning of the apprehended student.

They said the officer, a completely independent entity, remains present during the questioning sessions and also whenever the accused is taken to a location.

The sources said the agency is trying to analyse all aspects and possibilities in the murder case.

Pradyuman Thakur, a student of the Ryan International School, Gurugram, was found dead inside the toilet of school premises, with his throat slit on September 8.

The Gurgaon Police had arrested a bus conductor of the school pinning the blame of murder on him.

In a sensational twist to the case, the CBI recently announced that it had apprehended the senior student in connection with the murder of Pradhuman rejecting the Gurgaon Police theory that the killing was the handiwork of school bus conductor Ashok Kumar.

According to the agency, the Class 11 student, believed to be weak in studies, allegedly slit Pradhuman's throat to get the school to declare a holiday in order to defer a scheduled parent-teacher meeting (PTM) and an examination.