Grade 11 student arrested over murder of 7-year-old whose throat was slit inside school toilet

Two months after the shocking murder of Pradyuman Thakur, a grade two student at the Ryan International School in India's Gurugram city, a senior student of the same school has been arrested for allegedly killing the seven-year-old.

Investigating authorities on Tuesday (7 November) said they have arrested a grade 11 student. The knife that was used to kill the boy has also been recovered.

The victim was found in a pool of blood with his throat slit inside the school toilet on September 8. The incident had created a nation-wide public outrage. The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after the victim's parents demanded an independent probe and moved the country's top court.

According to CBI sources, the arrested student was weak in studies and wanted his examinations postponed, so he killed the child thinking a death in the school could delay the exams.

CBI officials have confirmed that some students questioned over Thakur's murder told them that the grade 11 student had told them about his plans for postponing school exams.

However, the accused boy's father denied the charges saying he was "innocent". He also claimed that his son was the one who alerted the school staff about Thakur's death.

"What happened to the child who died is so wrong, but that another child should go through injustice is also unfair," the father told ANI news agency. He also said that police questioned his son four times.

"Ask anyone at the school...did they see any blood on him? I can tell you there was not a single spot of blood on his clothes," the father noted.

Meanwhile, the arrested student, whose identity could not be revealed as he is a minor, will be presented before a juvenile court on Wednesday (8 November).

Earlier, based on CCTV recordings of the school, a bus conductor, named Ashok, was initially arrested and charged with murder. However, Ashok told local media outlets that the Gurugram police had forced him to confess to the crime.

Now, the CBI also says that they have proof that shows the police botched up the investigation.

The bus conductor was no longer a suspect in the case, the CBI said.