Ryan murder case: Pradyuman saw conductor 'masturbating', claim cops

New Delhi: In a shocking new revelation, two students of Gurugram's Ryan International School claimed to witness the accused conductor 'masturbating' inside the toilet, where seven-year-old student Pradyuman Thakur was found dead with throats and ears slit.

Pradyuman mostly likely caught the accused school bus conductor, Ashok Kumar, in the act, the police claimed on Monday.

Two students, including one from Class II-B, told the police in their statement that they saw Kumar inside the toilet just seconds before the homicide. They later identified him as well. The two had gone in to change their Karate uniform, reported DNA.

Recreating the crime scene with the help of forensic experts and witnesses and accused accounts, the police said, "When the conductor walked into the washroom, two students of primary section, whose statements have been recorded in front of a magistrate, were changing their uniform. The students then walked out of the toilet. This was when the victim went in. When the child pushed open a door, he saw the accused masturbating. Shocked, he tried to run but the sexually charged conductor held him and tried to sexually assault him." 

The child saw Kumar 'masturbating' and tried to raise an alarm, following which he shut the child's mouth with the right hand, pulled out a knife and tore the right ear and slit his throat apart.

"Since the child's back was towards the accused, not much of the blood spilled on his clothes. Kumar then ran out to a water cooler, and washed his hands, knife, and clothes," the officer said.

A gardener, who was the one to raise an alarm about the murder, saw the child crawling near the gate of the washroom and alerted the senior authorities. "The gardener's statement has also been recorded. He said he had seen the conductor walking out of the washroom," the police said.

Police also consulted a team of medical experts to ascertain whether it was possible for a child with such grievous injuries to walk up to the entrance of the toilet. "Experts suggested that the child had crawled 12-15 steps after being stabbed," officers said.

Meanwhile, the bus driver Saurabh, who was with the accused moments before the crime, disclosed that police and Ryan school management forced him to adopt their version of events, which claimed that conductor Ashok brought the knife inside the school premises as it was part of the tool kit.

He further alleged that the knife used to kill Pradyuman was not part of the tool kit. But due to pressure from police, he admitted it being a part of the tool box.