Ryan student murder: Bombay HC refuses pre-arrest bail to Pintos

7-year-old Pradyuman Thakur was found with his throat slit in the washroom of Ryan school last Friday.

Pic courtesy: PTI

Mumbai: The transit anticipatory bail applications of three trustees of Ryan International Group was rejected on Thursday by the Bombay High Court.

However, the court granted them interim protection from arrest till Friday to enable them to file an appeal.

Justice Ajey Gadkari also directed the applicants - group's CEO Ryan Pinto and his parents Augustine Pinto, the founding chairman and Grace Pinto, the group's managing director, to submit their passports to the Mumbai police commissioner.

The Pintos had approached the HC seeking transit anticipatory bail apprehending arrest in connection with the murder of a seven-year-old boy in the toilet of a school run by the Ryan group in Gurgaon on September 8.

They had sought pre-arrest bail till they could move the court concerned in Haryana.

Barun Thakur, the father of the victim boy, had intervened in the matter, opposing the Pintos' bail pleas.

The 7-year-old Pradyuman Thakur was found with his throat slit in the washroom of the school last Friday.

The school bus conductor Ashok Kumar has emerged as the prime suspect and has been arrested.

On the other hand, the SIT teams on Wednesday searched the school in Gurgaon for clues while a CBSE panel also inspected the premises to examine loopholes in security arrangements.

Besides Harpal Singh, the SIT has questioned 17 persons including section in-charge Anju Dudeja, suspended acting principal Neerja Batra, former principal Rakhi Verma, bus driver Saurabh Raghav, bus contractor Harkesh Pradhan and eight security guards.

(With PTI inputs)