CBI BEGINS PROBE INTO RYAN MURDER
ACCUSED SCHOOL CONDUCTOR HAS ALREADY SPENT 13 DAYS IN THE CUSTODY OF GURGAON POLICE, WHICH HAD INITIALLY ARRESTED HIM
GURGAON/NEWDELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has got only one day for custodial interrogation of Ashok Kumar, the prime suspect arrested for the murder of an eight-year-old at Ryan International Bhondsi on September 8.
The agency’s officials said they could get only one day’s custodial remand of Kumar from the designated special court in Gurgaon as he had already spent 13 days in the custody of Gurgaon police, which arrested him first.
As per norms, any accused can be remanded in police custody only for 14 days maximum within 14 days of arrest.
Similarly, two school officials held in the case — Francis Thomas and Jayesh Thomas — will be in CBI custody till Monday due to the same technical reason.
“The CBI has started the probe with a little handicap due to very little time for custodial interrogation of the accused. The agency investigators will have to hit the ground running. It again underlines the need to hand over probe to the CBI as soon as possible after the crime, if a decision has been taken to bring in the federal agency,” said NR Wasan, who retired as chief of the Bureau of Police Research and Development and who spent considerable time in the CBI while serving in the Indian Police Service.
The CBI officials accompanied by Ashok Bakshi, DCP (south), who also headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Gurgaon police that investigated the murder case, appeared before additional district and sessions judge Rajni Yadav at her home and sought remand of the three people.
“Ashok Kumar, the bus conductor who is the accused, was granted one day remand whereas the other two Francis Thomas and Jayesh Thomas will be in CBI custody till Monday”, said Bakshi.
The CBI took over the case on Friday evening after a case was registered by the agency.
At 9am on Saturday, the three-member CBI team accompanied by a 12-member forensic team visited Ryan Bhondsi and inspected the crime scene in detail. They also interacted with the teachers and other staff.
The CBI officials include deputy SP Ajay Bassi, the investigating officer in the case, Amit Kumar, deputy SP, and SP Aasra Garg. The officials also met Gurgaon police commissioner.
On Friday evening, the CBI sleuths visited the Gurgaon police headquarters and took over investigation into the murder of the class 2 student .
The student was found dead with his throat slit in the school toilet. Ashok Kumar, one of the school’s bus conductors, was arrested. Police said he killed the boy after a failed attempt to sexually assault him.
The boy’s father, however, expressed doubts over the police findings and demanded a CBI probe into the incident.
The incident sparked outrage across the country with parents demanding strict security measures in schools across the country citing several similar incidents in the recent past.