The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has apprehended a Class XI student for the murder of a seven-year-old boy, who was found dead in Gurugram's Ryan International School in August, media reports have said.
The arrested accused is a student from the same school. According to CNN-News18, he was detained from his residence in Sohna near Gurugram. India Today reported that the Class XI student was the first to spot and identify The child's body in August. However, his family has said the boy is innocent and has been "wrongly framed". "The CBI has arrested my child illegally. They claim he killed the boy. However, this is not true," the father of the accused said.
According to CNN-News18, CBI will be filing the chargesheet on 18 November. CBI is also questioning the family members of the Class XI boy in the case. "We want the boy to be tried as an adult...We will demand nothing less than the death penalty," Sushil Tekriwal, the counsel for the boy's parents, told CNN-News18.
Sources have also told the news channel that the boy has confessed to the crime and the CBI decided to arrest the boy on Tuesday evening. The clearance for the apprehension reportedly came from top officials in the CBI. The sources also told the news channel that the parents of the accused boy have been asked to join the investigation.
CBI soures also told CNN-News18 that the low resolution of the CCTV footage of the incident was a problem earlier. The family of the bus conductor, who had earlier been accused of the murder, has also said that even though they are relieved, they will not be happy until the truth comes out. The family also demanded a fair trial in this case. Ashok, the bus conductor, had earlier alleged that he tortured and forced to confess to the crime.
The Class 2 student's father Barun Chandra Thakur was quoted by CNN-News18 as accusing the Gurugram police of neglecting the "actual facts" in the case. "There is more than one angle to the case. It's not just the role of the conductor but there are many others who also need to be probed," Thakur had said.
The seven-year-old was found dead in the school toilet with his throat slit on 8 August.
The Haryana government had earlier recommended a CBI probe in the matter following a massive outrage. The agency took over the probe on 22 September.
The Gurugram Police had earlier arrested Ryan International School's bus conductor and had interrogated several school staff including a gardener and drivers.
Ryan Pinto, CEO of the Ryan International Group, was also quizzed in the case.
The Supreme Court had then directed the Punjab and Haryana High Court to decide within 10 days the anticipatory bail pleas of three Ryan International Group trustees. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra passed the directions on a plea moved by the boy's father challenging the extension of the interim protection from arrest granted to the three trustees.
The father had assailed the high court's order granting interim protection to Ryan Pinto and his parents, alleging that granting interim protection against their possible arrest was "illegal and unconstitutional".
With inputs from agencies