Ryan conductor Ashok Kumar plans to sell vegetables for a living

GURUGRAM: Life has come to a halt for Ashok Kumar, former bus conductor of Ryan International School, Bhondsi, who was arrested by the police on September 8 in connection with the murder of Pradhyumn Thakur, a seven-year-old student of the same school. Nearly a month has passed since the 42 year-old was released on bail from Bhondsi jail on November 22 after the CBI took over the investigation, but his entire world changed after September 8. Kumar said, “My feet are swollen. I can hardly walk properly. I haven’t recovered from the trauma. I still get jitters that someone will catch me or cops will come and start beating me again.” The bus conductor said his image had been tarnished by cops. “I am a poor man with only Rs 7,500 in my bank account. I haven’t asked for any compensation and I can’t sue the cops. The fear of being taken away from my family comes over me every day,” said Kumar.His two sons go to Vivek Bharti School in Ghamroj. “I have to pay Rs 20,000 to the school as fees. This year, somehow, the villagers will pay for the school fees. Next year, I am thinking of putting them in government schools. The locals have also sent two months ration to my place,” he added.Kumar is too weak to work, for now. “I don’t have the energy to work with anyone, now. Perhaps after another month, I will sell vegetables in Ghamroj only. I worked as an auto driver and took up the job at the school as a bus conductor so that my family’s situation could improve. My father has started working in Vivek Bharati School as a bus conductor and gets Rs 4,000. My wife, Mamta, is working in the same school as a caretaker and gets Rs 2,500. This is not enough to support my family of six people,” he said.Kumar doesn’t like remembering the day that changed his life. With a grim face, he said, “When I picked up Pradhyumn’s body, people in the school patted me on the back. They supported me. I felt like a hero then. Little did I know that within a few hours, police would make me the main suspect.”About the class 12 student who was arrested by the CBI in the murder case, Kumar said, “I don’t know who he is. I have never met him. Why doesn’t the Gurgaon police or CBI show his face? He should also be shamed like I was. I can’t go to the local bank in Ghamroj. People taunt me and say, ‘Look, he is Ashok, he was caught for Pradhyumn’s murder’.”