CBI grills Ryan teachers for3hrs High court grants interim bail to Pinto family
QUIZZED Investigators trying to identify 4 students seen in CCTV footage, say Ryan teachers
GURGAON: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team probing the murder of a Class 2 student of Ryan International School Bhondsi on Friday repeatedly questioned three teachers who were among the first ones seen rushing to the crime spot.
The prime objective of the CBI interrogation appears to be the identification of four senior students who were seen in CCTV footage near the murder location, said teachers who were probed by the CBI on Friday for three hours.
The CBI officials are reportedly suspecting that the four students seen in the CCTV footage may have heard or seen something which may prove to be a vital clue in the case, another one of the teachers said.
The CBI team on Friday repeatedly interrogated the three teachers in particular who were among the first ones seen rushing to the crime spot in the CCTV footage, one of the teachers said.
Around 20 teachers who teach Classes 9 to 12 had been asked by the CBI team to stay back after school till 5:15pm on Friday. The teachers were then taken to the school conference room where they were shown around 17 minutes of CCTV footage from the day of the incident (September 8) which captured the victim walking towards the toilet where he was murdered.
The teachers said that in the footage, the seven-year-old victim was seen following his elder sister before turning towards the toilet where the incident took place. The four senior students, who the investigation team is trying to identify, were seen walking behind the victim.
It is possible that the four students may have heard the cries of
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE FOUR STUDENTS MAY HAVE HEARD THE CRIES OF THE VICTIM WHEN HE TRIED TO RAISE AN ALARM, A TEACHER SAID BAIL FOR SCHOOL COORDINATOR, REGIONAL HEAD
the victim when he tried to raise an alarm, one of the teachers said.
“We were made to sit in one room and the three officials from the CBI interacted with us. They were repeatedly showing us the CCTV footage of the corridor where the victim enters the school walking behind his elder sister and then turns towards the toilet. Approximately 17 minutes of the footage was shown,” said one of the teachers.
The teacher added that the murder appears to have taken place in the three minutes that the Class 2 student was not visible in the CCTV footage.
One of the teachers said that in the portion of the footage shown to them, the accused Ashok was not visible, and it appears that he may have already entered the toithe let by then.
“The CBI officials did not show us the entire CCTV footage. We did not see Ashok even once in the video. Four senior class boys are seen walking in the corridor behind the victim, but they appear immersed in themselves talking and laughing. Only their backs were visible, so the teachers are finding it difficult to identify these four boys,” the teacher said.
teachers added that the officials were looking other angles to the murder as well. “The CBI team appeared quite calm and did not lose their cool even after none of us were able identify the four students,” one of the teachers said.
“We found it strange how we were never shown the entire CCTV footage. We wanted to see the entry and exit of the accused, but no one dared to ask the CBI team. All teachers seemed tense as the identification of the four students appeared most important to the CBI team, but the four senior boys were not clearly visible in the footage,” said another teacher. The teachers said they expected the CBI officials to soon unfold something which Gurgaon police has missed upon. CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday granted interim bail to Ryan International Group CEO Ryan Pinto, and his parents, founding chairman Augustine Pinto and managing director Grace Pinto, in connection with the killing of a seven-year-old student on September 8 in a Gurgaon school run that the group runs. The court has also asked the CBI, which is probing the case, to submit a report in the matter on December 5.
“High court justice Surinder Gupta today granted interim bail to them (the three trustees) till December 5,” said Arshdeep Singh Cheema, who along with Sandeep Kapur, appeared for the Pinto family.
They have also been asked by the court to join the investigation whenever called by the CBI, Cheema said.
“The CBI has also been asked by the high court to submit a report in this matter on December 5,” said Cheema.
On September 28, the high court had stayed the arrest of the three trustees of the Ryan Group, had approached the Bombay High Court last month in order to seek anticipatory bail in the case.
Ryan Pinto, and his parents had approached the high court on September 16, seeking anticipatory bail in connection with
the student’s killing.
THE CASE
A seven-year-old Class 2 student was found with his throat slit in a school washroom on September 8.
School bus conductor Ashok Kumar was arrested in connection with the crime.
There was nationwide outrage over the child’s killing and allegations were levelled against the school management as well.
On September 25, the HC had impleaded CBI as a respondent in a petition seeking bail for the three Ryan International Group trustees.
The Haryana government had earlier recommended a CBI probe in the matter.
The premier investigating agency took over the case on September 22.
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