BJP leaders in Haryana spar over Pradhuman murder

Gurugram, Nov 10 (IANS) BJP leaders in Haryana are a divided lot after the CBI declared that the murderer of a Class 2 student here was a senior schoolmate and not a bus conductor as alleged by Haryana Police.

The investigation into Pradhuman Thakur's gory killing took a dramatic twist on Wednesday when the CBI arrested a Class 11 student, also of Ryan International School here, and charged him with murdering the young boy in the school washroom on September 8.

Haryana PWD, Forest and Civil Aviation Minister Rao Narbir Singh came in support of the Haryana Police investigation and called the arrest of the Ryan student by CBI "unjustified".

"I am not able to digest the outcome of the investigation carried out by the CBI. The Haryana Police probe was more acceptable," said Narbir Singh, a BJP MLA from Badhshahpur constituency of Gurugram.

But Rao Inderjit Singh, a central government minister and an MP from Gurugram, backed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

He said the CBI was the top investigating agency in the country and people always demanded a probe by CBI when they were not satisfied by investigation done by local police.

He said the Haryana Police had implicated some people in a murder and gang-rape case in Dingar Heri village near Gurugram two years ago.

Later, the case was handed over to the CBI, which gave a clean chit to the jailed accused and arrested the real culprits.

Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij demanded strong action against officers of Haryana Police who investigated the Ryan murder.

The BJP MLA from Gurugram also sought stringent action against police officers who ended up arresting bus conductor Ashok Kumar for Pradhuman's murder.

The police arrested Kumar on September 8. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar handed over the murder case to the CBI.

The CBI began probing the case from September 22 and arrested the Ryan student on November 8, It also gave a clean chit to the conductor.