Gurugram school killing: ‘Accused helped teacher shift Praduman’

Gurugram, Sep 13 (IANS) An employee of the Ryan International School on Wednesday claimed that he saw seven-year-old student Praduman lying in a pool of blood and teachers seeking help of murder accused bus conductor Ashok Kumar to carry the child to a vehicle to take him to a hospital.

Harpal, 25, an employee of the Ryan International School on Sohna Road here, said he saw the Class II student lying in a pool of blood in the corridor close to the toilet's main door.

"I went there to have water from the water cooler installed near the toilet. Some children were shouting 'please call Anju Madam'. At the same time, I saw the bus conductor coming from the main gate side. Kumar's clothes didn't have any blood stains on them," said Harpal, a gardener in the school.

"Minutes later, Anju Madam arrived there and sought the bus conductor's help to carry the child to a vehicle to shift him to a private hospital. Kumar took Praduman to the vehicle," Harpal said.

"After seeing all this, I returned to my work," Harpal added.

Anju Juneja is the section incharge of Class II, in which Praduman was studying.

According to Harpal, he has been working with the school for months but he is yet to be issued an identity card by the school.

Subhash Garg, father of another school student, said he was present on the campus when the incident took place. Garg said he rushed along with others to the site of the crime on hearing the screams of staff members and students.

He said bus conductor Kumar carried the child to a vehicle.

Garg and some other parents, who were in the school then, were also witness to an argument between Anju Juneja and acting-Principal of school Neerja Batra.

Some one videographed the argument on his mobile phone, which has been released now in the social media, five days after the killing of Praduman.

Students' parents present in the school on the fateful day have also questioned the need to clean the blood spattered on the crime spot in a hurry -- even before the arrival of police.

Praduman was found dead with his throat slit in the washroom of Ryan International School here on September 8.

His father has since moved the Supreme Court for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case.

Meanwhile, as per the post-mortem report, there was no sexual assault on Pradhuman.

"There were no physical injury marks on the body. Body samples were sent for forensic analysis, which established that he was not sexually assaulted," senior forensic expert Deepak Mathur, who conducted the autopsy, told IANS.

Police have arrested school bus conductor Kumar, 42, on suspicion of him being the child's killer. Police have claimed that he killed the minor after failing to sexually assault the child.