Ryan murder: Forensic, CBSE teams inspect scene of crime

Gurgaon police ruled out the possibility of more than one accused in the murder of the eight-year old boy, who was found with his throat slit outside the washroom of the school

A forensic team from Rohtak visited the Ryan International School’s Bhondsi branch on Wednesday and looked for forensic and other circumstantial pieces of evidence that would help in fixing the culpability of the accused. They spent more than five hours inside the school premises.

A top Haryana police officer from Chandigarh had also questioned him and found his statements inconsistent, which evoked the suspicions of the investigators. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

Gurgaon police, meanwhile, ruled out the possibility of more than one accused in the murder of the eight-year old boy, who was found with his throat slit outside the washroom of the school. The police, again, questioned the gardener of the school, Harpal, who was among the first to spot the victim. Sources in the police department said that Harpal has come under the scanner because his statements were not consistent.

A top Haryana police officer from Chandigarh had also questioned him and found his statements inconsistent, which evoked the suspicions of the investigators.

Meanwhile, a team of four Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) officials also visited the school to review the infrastructure, security and safety lapses that could have led to the boy’s murder. The team stayed on the premises for almost two hours and said there have been several lapses.

Around 50 teachers of the Ryan International School were asked to come for questioning by the SIT on Wednesday evening but after waiting for over an hour, they were asked to leave as the officials concerned were busy in another meeting. “This is so inhumane. We are already under stress and the police have again called us in the morning,” a teacher said.

The police have ruled out the culpability of the acting school principal, Neerja Batra, who has been the school principal since April. A senior official said that the school principal had already flagged various lapses and negligences in infrastructure to the Ryan management. She also forwarded a mail to Gurgaon police, mentioning the lapses that were flagged with the management and she had demanded a transfer to the Sector 40 branch.

The eight guards who were deployed in the school were fired on Saturday after the murder. “I was called and asked not to report for duty from Monday. The school management said we are responsible for the murder as the security lapse were on our end,” said Narain Singh, a guard.