A teenager has been arrested accused of killing a seven-year-old schoolmate by slitting his throat so that teacher would have to delay his exams.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is suspected of killing Pradyuman Thakur in a complex murder case that has sent shockwaves around northern India.
Police had initially detained a bus conductor over the murder, claiming he killed the boy after the young pupil resisted a sex attack.
But a spokesman for federal investigators said they had credible evidence against the 'academically weak teenager, whose motive was to postpone the examination and a forthcoming parent-teacher meeting'.
Indian officers arrested the teenager Wednesday in a fresh twist in the disturbing case.
'He admitted during questioning that he wanted to shut the school to defer the exams and meeting,' Central Bureau of Investigation spokesman RK Gaur said.
The teenager would be sent to a juvenile detention centre until his trial for murder, he added.
Gaur said the bus conductor would remain in custody until cleared by a court of any wrongdoing.
Hundreds of parents stormed Ryan International school in Gurgaon after the body of Pradyuman Thakur was found in a school bathroom back in September.
Police said in September he was attacked with a knife after resisting a sex attack inside a lavatory and arrested a bus conductor at the school, named as Ashok Kumar, for the killing.
Simardeep Singh, deputy commissioner of police said last month of the bus conductor: 'The accused has confessed to the crime during questioning.'
The boy resisted the sexual assault and the attacker decided to kill him to cover up the crime, Singh said.
The suspect had been working at the school for eight months, the officer said.Parents of the nearly 1,000 students at the school tried to storm the campus on Saturday to demand the arrest of school managers over the case.
But hundreds of police in riot gear guarded the building to avoid a repeat of violence on Friday when chairs and cupboards were smashed.The school has suspended the principal and assured cooperation with the investigators.
Authorities said they had launched an investigation into security at the school.
India's swelling middle class has fuelled the growth of private schools in the country that has a crumbling public education system.
But a lack of government regulation is a concern for parents.Ranked one of the top educational institutions, Ryan International runs nearly 150 schools across India and in United Arab Emirates.
The school was caught in another controversy last year after a six-year-old student was found dead in a water tank at its New Delhi establishment.
Police arrested the principal, a teacher and three other staff for negligence in that case.
India arrested a teenager on Wednesday for allegedly slitting the throat of a seven-year-old schoolmate in hopes the murder would lead to an exam being postponed, federal investigators said.
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Crime