CBI charges juvenile with murder in Gurgaon school
The agency gives clean chit to school conductor, accuses Class 11 student of killing Class 2 student
GURGAON : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday filed a chargesheet in the murder of a Class 2 student of a local private school on September 8. The investigating agency has made a 16-year-old boy the main accused in the case while giving a clean chit to a bus conductor, who was earlier arrested by the police and blamed for the crime.
GURGAON:THE Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday filed a chargesheet in the murder of a Class 2 student of a local private school on September 8.
The investigating agency has made a 16-year-old boy the main accused in the case while giving a clean chit to a bus conductor, who was earlier arrested by the police and blamed for the crime.
The chargesheet was brought, along with several annexure documents, in a trunk and two bags to be submitted before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Jasbir Singh Kundu.
The CBI chargesheet listed Ashok Kumar, the 42-year-old bus conductor, as one of the main witnesses in the case.
The juvenile accused, a student of the same school, was apprehended by the CBI on November 7, demolishing the police theory that Kumar had slit the throat of the Class 2 student in the school toilet.
On December 20, the Juvenile justice board (JJB) had ruled that the minor accused be tried as an adult for the “heinous” crime.
Transferring the case to the Special children’s court, Gurgaon, the board held that the circumstances show the teenager was “mature enough” to understand the consequences of his alleged act and could think of ways to escape punishment which his act attracted.
If proven guilty, he could be sent to a correction home till he legally attains adulthood, and then the court may shift him to a jail.
Regarding the alleged roles of school management, owners and special investigation team officials of Gurgaon police, the chargesheet says that further investigations, in this case, “will be kept open under section 178(3) Crpc and the probe results will be submitted to the court in due course of time”.
The 29 spiral volumes of chargesheet included list of witnesses, forensic expert reports, fingerprints reports, statements of the witnesses, emails exchanged between the school principal and management and details of evidence which led the CBI to the 16-year-old accused. The chargesheet was screening by the court officials before it was submitted before the sessions court.
The court will take cognizance on the chargesheet and will provide a copy to the accused on February 12.
A supplementary chargesheet will be filed within a month.
There are 127 witnesses in the case and 204 pieces of evidence in the charge sheet
Family members and the lawyer representing the victim boy expressed disappointment over the CBI chargesheet, calling it “very weak”.
They claimed that there was nothing new in the documents from what was already reported by the media.
“They have not named the school management, owners of the school and the Gurgaon police SIT officials who are also culprits in the case. Giving clean chit to Ashok does not elaborate on the foul play by the cops,” said Sushil tekriwal, counsel for the victim.
Giving a clean chit to Kumar, the CBI said, “No evidence has come on record to prove the involvement of conductor Ashok Kumar in the instant case.”
The agency appealed the court that “since no evidence has been found by the CBI against conductor Ashok Kumar for his involvement in any manner in the murder …..the court may kindly discharge Kumar in the case”.
The agency said “there is sufficient evidence for prosecution” against the juvenile accused in the murder case.
Besides murder, the Gurgaon police had also booked Kumar under Pocso Act, accusing him of sexually assaulting the victim before killing him. Kumar spent about 70 days in the jail.
“CBI has given a clean chit to my client and the arguments will be held on February 12. Kumar will be discharged from the case now,” Kumar’s counsel, Mohit Verma, said.
FAMILIES REACT
The victim’s family said the central investigating agency had enough time to collect evidence and file a strong chargesheet but it was not only “weak” but “irrelevant for convicting the accused”.
“It has raised a question on their (CBI’S) credibility. Although they proved the Gurgaon police theory wrong and apprehended the juvenile, the CBI chargesheet makes no mention of the foul play on the part of the police and the school management,” the father of the victim said.
On the other hand, the father of the juvenile accused said his son has been framed in the case “from the very beginning”.
“There is nothing in the chargesheet which clearly shows the role of my son in the murder. He has been framed and it is proved by the chargesheet. There is no clinching evidence and it seems that the conspiracy in the case remains hidden.
The CBI has not been able to produce any concrete proof, despite taking 90 days for the probe,” he said.
“Merely recording the statements of fellow students who have seen my son in the corridor does not mean my son murdered the boy,” he said.