Ashok Kumar's bail plea adjourned to November 20

GURUGRAM: After hearing the bail plea of Ashok Kumar, the bus conductor who had been charged with the murder of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur by Gurugram police, a sessions court here on Thursday adjourned the matter till November 20.

42-year-old Kumar has been in jail since September 8, the day Pradyuman was found murdered in the washroom of Ryan International School in Bhondsi, where he was a student.

The hearing, which was scheduled to begin in the morning, was deferred till afternoon after the sessions court asked for the case file from the legal counsel of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The case resumed again at 2.00 pm in court room number 6.

In its reply, the CBI declared that even though they could not find any concrete evidence to implicate Kumar, it had still not given him the clean chit.

"We are yet to receive vital evidences like chemical reports and other inputs. So we cannot give a clean chit to him. When we get all reports and our investigation is complete, only they can we decide his innocence," the CBI said in its reply.

Sources said that the judge was shown the CCTV footage where Pradyuman was seen with the 16-year-old prime accused, moments before the child was murdered.

Kumar's family were also present in the court complex, anticipating that he will be released after having spent over two months in jail.

"I want to reiterate that my son is innocent. He was tortured and beaten mercilessly to extract his confession. I will request that the court free him soon, as he has to take care of the family," said Ami Chand, Kumar's father.

Asserting that her husband has been wrongly framed, Kanta Devi beseeched authorities for the release of her husband. Kanta Devi added that her husband did his best to save the boy's life by carrying him to the vehicle so as to take him to the hospital. One of Kumar's two sons is the same age as that of the deceased Pradyuman.

"I knew from the beginning that he was innocent. He has never been violent. He has also never raised his hand even on his children," said Kanta.