Court tense as CCTV footage played before judge, lawyers
BAIL HEARING It was the first time that Barun Thakur, Pradhyumn’s father, his counsel Sushil Tekriwal and Kumar’s counsel Mohit Verma were seeing the footage
GURGAON: The atmosphere at the Gurgaon special court was tense on Thursday with a battery of lawyers turning up for the bail plea of 42-year-old Ashok Kumar, the bus conductor arrested in connection with Ryan murder case.
Eight-year-old Pradhyumn Thakur, a class 2 student of Ryan International School, Bhondsi, was found murdered in the school’s toilet on September 8.
The same evening, Kumar was arrested and charged with the boy’s murder.
The CCTV footage of the crime scene was played before additional district and sessions judge Rajni Yadav, the lawyers of Pradhyumn’s father and Kumar, and the public prosecutor.
It was for the first time that Barun Chandra Thakur, Pradhyumn’s father, his counsel Sushil Tekriwal and Kumar’s counsel Mohit Verma saw the footage.
In the footage, Pradhyumn is seen entering the school corridor behind his sister.
Justice Yadav asked the CBI officials about the CCTV footage and asked them to show it to her in the presence of the lawyers.
The CCTV footage was played on a court computer, said one of the lawyers associated with the case.
The judge asked about the timings of Pradhyumn’s movements as well as those of Kumar and the juvenile accused who was later arrested by the CBI. The CBI officials could not provide her with these. The after were later submitted before the court.
“In the footage, Pradhyumn is seen going towards the toilet but turns back and then again goes to the toilet. Kumar is seen following him towards the toilet. After Kumar enters, gardener Harpal is also seen going towards the toilet and is followed by the juvenile accused,” said Verma.
Pradhyumn is seen carrying a school bag and his water bottle. The juvenile accused is also carrying a school bag, one of the things that led to his identification. The footage was collected from two CCTV cameras facing each other in the corridor.
Kumar is seen coming out of the toilet and, after a few seconds, the juvenile accused also comes out.
The court was jam packed with lawyers and, due to suffocation, a woman lawyer fell unconscious. Media was not allowed inside.
Around 25 police commandos were deployed on the court premises as the situation remained tense. More than 125 lawyers from Delhi, Sohna and Gurgaon were present there.
The court proceedings started around 10.15am and the judge asked the CBI why Kumar was arrested and what his role was.
The agency officials replied that it was the Gurgaon police who arrested him. The judge then sought a statement related to Kumar’s arrest.
The CBI lawyer requested two days to submit the documents but justice Yadav asked him to do so by 2pm.
When the hearing started at 2pm, the judge asked the CBI officials to read out the statements of gardener Harpal, teacher Anju Dudeja and Kumar.
After the statements, Tekriwal argued about the jurisdiction of the case and demanded a transfer to the special CBI court, Panchkula.
The hearing was adjourned to November 20 and the CBI officials have been asked to submit more details of the case.