No evidence of conductor Ashok's involvement in Pradyuman's murder: CBI

The CBI said that action will be taken if it finds any evidence during the ongoing investigation regarding his role in the murder.

GURUGRAM: There is no evidence to show that conductor Ashok Kumar is involved in the murder of eight-year-old Pradyuman Thakur, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Thursday. 

The CBI gave the statement during a hearing on Ashok's bail plea in a Gurugram court. The agency said that action will be taken if it finds any evidence during the ongoing investigation regarding his role in the murder.

The court had earlier in the day asked the CBI that on what was the basis on which Ashok was arrested in the case. "The investigating agency was not able to give a response to the court's question," Conductor Ashok's lawyer Mohit Verma had said. 

The Haryana Police had earlier admitted to committing a mistake while accusing Ashok of the murder. The team, which arrested the conductor and declared him a paedophile, confessed that they did not view the closed circuit television (CCTV) footage carefully. They, however, remained mum on how they missed this crucial evidence.

His family has repeatedly hinted that there might be a larger conspiracy in the murder case but asserted that Ashok was innocent. 

"We have been saying this for long that he is innocent. This is a conspiracy hatched by the school administration and the police. My husband was tortured by the police to extract the confession. We want proper investigation and justice," Mamata, wife of bus conductor Ashok, said.