Khattar, Haryana DGP defend state police investigation in Pradhuman murder

Chandigarh, Nov 8 (IANS) Defending the investigations of the local police in the murder of seven-year-old Pradhuman Thakur of Ryan International School in Gurugram, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said that the police investigations were in progress when the case was handed over to the CBI.

With the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigations claiming that a Class 11th student was behind the gruesome murder of Pradhuman on September 8, Khattar told media here that the Haryana Police had not yet completed its investigations into the matter and had not submitted its chargesheet when the case was transferred to the CBI for investigation.

The case was handed over to the CBI by the Haryana government after Pradhuman's family sought a CBI investigation.

The Gurugram police had arrested Ryan school bus conductor Ashok Kumar within hours of the murder and claimed that he had murdered the child after trying to sodomize him. The state police is now being accused of botching up the probe and forcing the conductor to admit his guilt in the crime.

Haryana Director General of Police B.S. Sandhu also defended the state police saying that "there was no pressure on the police to hasten the probe when the matter was being investigated by it".

Following the sensational CBI disclosure in the murder case, Sandhu told reporters in Panchkula near here on Wednesday that there was nothing wrong in the Gurugram police investigations.

"There is no failure of Gurugram police. There was no pressure on police. It is too early to say anything," he said.

Asked about the arrest of the school bus conductor by the Haryana Police in this matter and the embarrassment caused to the state police by the CBI findings, the DGP said: "Koi baat nahin, chalta hai (it does not matter, it happens)".

In a dramatic twist to the murder of the Class 2 student, the CBI on Wednesday said the horrific crime was committed by a 16-year-old student who wanted to delay upcoming exams and a parent-teacher meeting.

A court in Gurugram in Haryana sent the Class 11 student to three days in CBI custody. CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said the student was detained on Tuesday night as the prime suspect in the murder.