Two officials of Gurugram’s Ryan International School who were arrested on Sunday night, were remanded in police custody for two days on Monday in connection with the murder of a Class 2 student on campus, ANI reported. The regional head of the school’s northern zone, Francis Thomas, and the chief of Human Resources at the Bhondsi branch, Jeyus Thomas, were produced in a Sohna court.
The parents of the murdered Ryan International School student had filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking for an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the murder. The boy’s father, Varun Thakur, said he was unhappy with the police investigation as there were a lot of loopholes.
Acting on the plea, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre, Human Resources Development Ministry and the Haryana government. The Class 2 student was murdered inside the campus of the Ryan International School in Gurugram on September 8.
A school bus conductor was arrested later that day for the murder and for allegedly trying to sexually assault the boy before attacking him. The police are also questioning a driver, gardener and a few others to find if the conductor had accomplices.
Meanwhile, the Haryana Police have sent a team to Mumbai to question the Ryan Group’s Chief Executive Officer Ryan Pinto, who filed for an anticipatory bail in the Bombay High Court on Monday. The plea is likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday, ANI reported.
Earlier, Pinto had denied the allegations of negligence against the school and said, “We request all parties concerned to refrain from holding Ryan School culpable of a crime where it is itself a victim of unfortunate circumstances”.
Parents continue to protest
On Monday, protests continued at various branches of Ryan International School, including in Noida and Gurugram.
The parents of students at the Ryan International School’s Vasant Kunj branch also filed a complaint against the institute, alleging several security lapses, ANI reported. They have complained that several CCTV cameras set up in the campus were dysfunctional, and that a water tank was unlocked, among other lapses.
The Haryana government had ordered all campuses of the Ryan International School in Gurugram to be closed on Monday and Tuesday. On Sunday, angry parents broke the school’s window panes during protests, after which the police resorted to baton charge. Several media personnel were also injured in these clashes.
Gurugram Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar said on Monday that he had spoken to the media personnel who were injured and will take action if it was a targeted attack.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar assured the child’s father that a CBI investigation will be conducted, ANI reported.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also spoke to the child’s mother, uncle, and Khattar. “The chief minister is concerned and assured me that the culprit would not be spared,” he said.
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