Gurugram,
The police today arrested top management employees of Ryan International School for negligence in ensuring the safety of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur, who was found murdered in school toilet on Friday.

Francis Thomas, the school’s northern India head, and Jeyus Thomas, coordinator and Human Resource (HR) head, were arrested under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

Francis was also booked in connection with the drowning of a boy in a water tank at Ryan International School in South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area. The victim, Devansh Meena, had gone missing on January 30 last year and his body was recovered the same day from a water tank in the school. The Delhi Police had made Francis the first accused as he was responsible for administration and civil work inside the school premises.

The acting principal, Neerja Batra, who was called for interrogation today, fell ill and had to be hospitalised.

Meanwhile, a special team has been sent to Mumbai to question national management of the school.

“We have found a major lacuna in the school security. Toilets were common for students and staff like conductors and drivers. The school does not have a boundary wall to restrict entry or exit. Police verification has not been done for majority of staff till date. We have taken both management employees on remand and will be getting all records from Mumbai as well,” said Commissioner of Police Sandeep Khirwar. The police came cracking on the school following a directive of Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, who yesterday ordered action against the school saying negligence on its part was evident.

A special committee, headed by the District Education Officer, found many other lapses like high-tension wire above the school ground, broken toilet windows, easy accessible and insecure classrooms and wrong placement of CCTV cameras.

“The school is found lacking on majority of parameters. We have forwarded the report to the Director, Secondary Education, Haryana. We will also issue directives to all schools on security measures and these will have to be complied with in a stipulated time, following which inspections would be carried out,” said DC Vinay Pratap Singh.

Meanwhile, the school insists that they had fallen prey to unfavourable circumstances. “We are cooperating with the police and hope that the guilty would be given the severest punishment as per the law. We should not be held responsible for the crime as the school itself is a victim of unfortunate circumstances. We will not succumb to false allegations being levelled. We should not unjustly be blamed or branded as the perpetrators,” said Ryan Pinto, CEO, Ryan International Schools Group.

Meanwhile, the Gurugram police also suspended a cop for using force against journalists covering a protest outside the Ryan International School yesterday.

Inspector Arun Kumar, SHO, Sohna police station, has been suspended with immediate effect for a lapse in carrying out his duty during the lathicharge, which left over 20 people injured, including some scribes.

The police today told the court that the school authorities had tampered with the crime scene and even the evidence. Fourteen police teams constituted to probe the case are questioning the school staff while an SIT team is headed to Mumbai to interrogate the school CEO, Ryan Pinto, and director Albert Pinto. Ryan Pinto has reportedly applied for anticipatory bail in the Bombay High Court and the plea is likely to be heard tomorrow.