Bus conductor acquitted in Gurgaon student’s murder
GURGAON : A special court on Wednesday acquitted a bus conductor who was initially suspected of murdering a Class 2 student of a private school in Gurgaon. The Gurgaon special children’s court cleared Ashok Kumar, 42, of the charges against him. In a report submitted to the court in January, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had said that no evidence was found against Kumar.
The court also ordered that two school officials, Francis Thomas and Jayesh Thomas, who were also arrested in connection with the brutal murder, remain present during all hearings in the case, starting April 10.
The court asked the CBI to speed up the probe and submit a supplementary chargesheet by April 10. The court also ordered to merge both FIRS filed by the Gurgaon police and the CBI.
“I was living in fear even though I was on bail. Now, I am relieved and can think of starting life afresh,” Kumar said.
A Class 2 student of a private school was found with his throat slit on September 8 last year. The Gurgaon police had arrested Kumar and the two school officials. The CBI later apprehended a 16-year-old student of the same school for the murder.
Additional district and sessions judge JS Kundu adjourned the hearing till March 9.
The minor suspect’s lawyerhas filed an application under section 207 CRPC, requesting the court to direct the CBI to supply a copy of documents mentioned in the list of annexures of the chargesheet. “We have requested to hand over a copy of CCTV footage of the date of incident derived from the cameras installed in the school. Also, a copy of all CCTV footages collected by the Gurgaon police mentioned in one of the annexures by the CBI,” said Vishal Gupta, a counsel for the juvenile accused.
The victim’s counsel sought action against the police. “Ashok’s acquittal should culminate in immediate dismissal and arrest of the entire Special Investigation Team and a criminal trial against them,” he said.