Ryan International School student Pradyuman Thakur was found dead in a school toilet
The CBI took over the probe into the murder of
Gurgaon schoolboy Pradyuman Thakur before the Gurgaon Police's own special investigation team could finish its work, the police in the Haryana megapolis said.
Gurgaon Police have come under fire from the parents of the murdered boy after the Central Bureau of Investigation
took custody of a 16-year-old boy for allegedly slitting Pradyuman's throat -- changing the direction of the probe as earlier the police had pinned the murder on a bus conductor of Ryan International School, Ashok Kumar.
Though the boy's family have accused the police of
bungling the investigation right from the start, the police have said their probe into the murder of the Class 2 boy was not complete yet when the CBI took over.
"Our probe by the SIT (special investigation team) headed by DCP Ashok Bakshi was underway and had not concluded before the CBI took over the charge of investigating the case. We had arrested Ashok Kumar, the school bus conductor on the basis of prior factual evidence," Gurgaon Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar told reporters yesterday.
"We had been investigating the case closely from all angles, but the CBI took charge before we ended our probe and submit the final chargesheet. I admit there were some loopholes in the SIT probe. Ashok had also confessed to his involvement," Mr Khirwar said.
Pradyuman Thakur's parents have alleged that the school authorities have "destroyed evidence" and its top officials should be questioned by the CBI.
The father of bus conductor Ashok Kumar has also said they will seek action against Gurgaon Police officers who have "framed" his son. "Now it is almost clear that my son Ashok was framed and made a scapegoat. We have decided to file a case against Gurgaon Police SIT officers who... tortured and even drugged him," Amirchand Kumar, father of the school bus conductor, told news agency Press Trust of India.
"Villagers are with us and they all want us to demand justice for Ashok and action against irresponsible police officials," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)