'Felt from day one that case was being diverted'

GURUGRAM: Barun Thakur, the father of deceased Pradyuman Thakur, on Monday once again asserted that Gurugram police had diverted the probe of his son's murder.

Even as he expressed satisfaction with the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Thakur said that claims of police officials trying to destroy vital evidences – so as to let off the main accused – may be true.

Highlighting that it would not have been possible without pressure from higher authorities, Thakur demanded implication of the school management in the case.

Thakur recounted that since the very first of the Gurugram police probe, he had felt that the case was not proceeding in the right direction. He had stated that his son's murder was pre-planned and not a spontaneous act, as had earlier been theorised.

Thakur's statement comes at a time when the integrity and credibility of Gurugram police is under suspicion, after CBI completely debunked the district police's theory that bus conductor Ashok Kumar was the murderer. Thakur's legal counsel Sunil Tekriwal also asserted that comprehensive investigation in the case will lead to many people being penalised.

Moreover, officials of CBI will soon grill officers of the special investigation team (SIT) formed by Gurugram police, which initially investigated the case.

Two officers of the rank of DCP and three officers of the rank of ACP were part of the SIT.

There are rumours that a local politician was involved in the case and was pressuring the district police.

Meanwhile, Gurugram Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar had defended his police force. In his official statement that came a day after the revelations made by CBI, Khirwar had said that the investigation is not over.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has said that he will wait for the investigations to end, before he takes any action. He had ordered the CBI inquiry, a day before the deadline for filing of charge sheet by the SIT was to end.

According to sources, the eight-second CCTV clip retrieved from the spot where the 16-year-old was seen had been overlooked by the SIT, citing that it was blurred. After thorough forensic investigation, the same clip was used by CBI to nail the juvenile.

GURUGRAM: The father of the 16-year-old boy, who is accused of murdering seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur inside the premises of Ryan International School, on Monday, asserted that his son does not suffer from any mental illness.

The father's declaration comes at time when it has been propounded that the Class XI student was under medical consultation and had exam phobia.

It is believed that the 16-year-old decided to murder Pradyuman so as to defer an examination that the former had to give that day.

"My son was not under any medication. There are claims by CBI that my son had some form of mental illness. I want to ask the officers to please tell me when was he under their custody and what medication was provided to him," said the boy's father.

He also rejected the claims that his son was being let-off because of his financial clout.

"False theories are being floated that I own a huge landholding and that we are wealthy. We have been helpful in the investigation at every step. As a father, I empathise with what happened to Pradyuman. But that does not mean that another young life should be allowed to be destroyed. We will fight this case legally," he told reporters.

On November 8, two months after the gruesome killing of Pradyuman Thakur inside the washroom of Ryan International School in Bhondsi, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made the shocking revelation that the Class XI student was involved in the murder.