The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday said that a 16-year-old student of Ryan International School in Bhondsi, Gurugram, who wanted to delay exams and a scheduled parent-teacher meeting is the prime accused in the murder of Class 2 student Pradyuman Thakur.

As per media reports, the CBI also gave a clean chit to the conductor, Ashok Kumar, who was earlier arrested by the Haryana Police for “killing Pradyuman” after a failed bid to sodomise the victim.

CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said, the Class 11 student was detained on Tuesday night after “inspection of the crime spot, scrutiny of CCTV footage, call records, statements and questioning of several people” revealed that he had carried a knife inside the school campus on the day of the crime and used it to kill his junior school mate.
The detained boy was listed as an eyewitness in the case, according to media reports.

Dayal said the detained student was weak in studies and “wanted to have examination and parent-teacher meeting postponed”. Pradhuman, 7, was his random target.

The mental status of the detained student will be assessed. However, as per reports, he had anger management issues and was undergoing treatment for some time.

The weapon (knife) used in the crime, which was recovered initially by police in Gurugram, is now with us, said Dayal.

The weapon has been sent for forensic tests, according to media reports.

The CBI said that the parents of the detained student were kept informed throughout the investigation.

The CBI took over the case on September 22 from Haryana Police, nearly two weeks after the Class 2 student, Pradyuman, was found with his throat slit near the school bathroom, moments after being dropped at the school by his father.

The accused will now be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, where the court is expected to decide whether he is to be treated as a major or a minor as per the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

On September 8, Class 2 student, Pradyuman, was found with his throat slit near the school bathroom, moments after being dropped at the school by his father.

(With agency inputs)