Ryan student murder case: `Police, management forced me to adapt their version`, says driver who was with accused conductor

New Delhi: In a major breakthrough in the alleged murder case of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur, the bus driver, who was with the accused conductor Ashok Kumar before the incident took place, has revealed shocking details about the police and the school management on Monday. 

While speaking exclusively to leading channel, CNN-News 18, the bus driver Saurabh disclosed that the police and the Ryan school management forced him to adapt their version of events, which claimed that conductor Ashok brought the knife inside the school premises as it was part of the tool kit.

However, contrary to his earlier statements, the bus driver yesterday said that the knife which was allegedly used to kill seven-year-old Pradyuman was not part of the tool kit. It was police who threatened and asked him to admit it was. “I keep opening the tool box and had inspected it on that day as well. The knife was not there,” the driver stated. 

Talking about accused conductor Ashok, the driver said that it is quite hard to believe that he hid the knife from the tool kit. “He is of a very quiet nature. I’ve never seen him bring a knife. Once he got a screwdriver and informed me that I have got this as it'll be useful in the bus. Maybe he did not tell me about the knife and perhaps he kept it somewhere else... I don’t really know,” Saurabh told CNN-News 18. 

Earlier on Monday, the owners of Ryan International School Augustine Pinto (73), and his wife Grace Pinto (62), who is the managing director of the institution, along with their son Ryan Pinto approached Bombay HC and sought anticipatory bail ahead of their interrogation. Their application is likely to come up today. 

Ryan student murder: What happened so far? 

A class II student Pradyuman Thakur was found dead on Friday (September 08) by a school staffer in the washroom on the school campus in Bhondsi area near Gurugram city with a slit throat. Soon after the incident took place, the police arrested Ashok Kumar, conductor of a school bus, for the killing but many believe he was made a scapegoat. The man's family too claimed he was falsely implicated since he was poor.

Earlier on Sunday,  the Special Investigation Team (SIT) averred that the school did not have any separate toilets for staff like drivers and conductors while adding that the administration even did not get their employees identification verified. The report by the investigative team also highlighted that the CCTV cameras of the school weren't working properly and were not installed everywhere. Also, the fire extinguishers were expired.