Pradyuman murder: CBI revisits school with juvenile, wraps up custodial questioning

The teenager was taken to Ryan International School again on Saturday. (Express Photo/Manoj Kumar)

Three days after the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in Gurgaon remanded him in CBI custody, the Class XI student accused of murdering seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur was again produced before the board on Saturday and sent to an observation home in Faridabad until November 22.

“The CBI has sought judicial custody for 14 days, which has been granted. They did not ask for further remand. The child will be placed in an observation home in Faridabad during this period,” defence lawyer C K Sharma said.

The application submitted by the CBI to the JJB also confirmed that the agency did not request further custody of the teenager. “Custodial interrogation of the child in conflict with law is almost complete and he is no more required in custody. At present, he may be sent to an observation home,” the application said.

In the document, the agency also said the juvenile accused had been identified and apprehended on the basis of “minute inspection of the scene of the crime, analysis of CCTV footage and movement of students near the scene of crime” as well as “reconstruction of sequence of events and questioning of students, teachers, staff and other employees of the school”.

“He has admitted to his involvement in committing the murder,” the application added.

On Saturday — the last day of the boy’s remand — the teenager was once again taken to Ryan International School’s Bhondsi branch, where the Class II student was found dead inside a bathroom on September 8.

A team of around 15 officials spent over four hours at the school, recreating the crime scene and conducting investigations, before heading to the JJB in Gurgaon, where the accused was produced late afternoon.

The boy’s father, meanwhile, claimed that a false confession had been extracted from his son by “hanging him upside down and beating him”. He further alleged that his son had been questioned by the CBI beyond the time period set by the JJB — 10 am to 6 pm.

The father also submitted an application to the JJB requesting “appropriate action” against officials responsible.

“The observations of the Hon’ble board has clearly been violated by the CBI, which is amply demonstrated from video footage as well as the register of (the place where he was kept),” he alleged in the application.

The father told The Sunday Express: “My son was the first one to see the child (Pradyuman) and inform the gardener. Then, while heading towards his class, he informed a teacher. My child was in school the entire day. Ask anyone if there was any blood on his clothes.”

He said his son was first summoned by the CBI on September 24. “Since then, we have gone whenever they called us, and in the end they dumped everything on us,” he said.

Responding to reports claiming that his son was weak in studies, he said, “So what? Many people are weak in studies, and documents show another side as well. He has some A+ grades also.”