The Sehgals said it had been two weeks since the incident and they were yet to know what had led to Armaan's death.
Dissatisfied with the investigation for their son’s death, parents of Armaan Sehgal, met the Ghaziabad District Magistrate (DM) and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ghaziabad today. Armaan, the 10-year-old student on August 1 had died under mysterious circumstances in GD Goenka Public School, Indirapuram, where he was studying.
Representatives of several associations and political parties of the district were present at the meetings in support of the parents. The Sehgals said it had been two weeks since the incident and they were yet to know what had led to Armaan's death.
The parents demanded SSP Hari Narayan Singh to carry out a swift investigation and also wanted to know if the police had come across any significant finding in their investigation till date. Assuring the parents of a speedy process, Singh said the investigation would be complete in the next three to four days. “The investigating officer (IO) of the case will personally sit with the parents and discuss whatever the police could gather in the investigation,” Singh said. "I have also ordered a fresh forensic examination of the school premises from Lucknow," he added.
However, the parents alleged that police's approach in handling the accused school management officials (who were named in the FIR) was soft and they gave them sufficient time to get a stay on their arrests from the Allahabad High Court.
“We still do not know the real details of the incident which took away our son. Neither the school management, nor the police have said anything. We have only heard stories from different sources. Nothing about our son’s death is confirmed yet,” said Ghulshan Sehgal, Armaan’s father. At the meeting, both Swati and Gulshan Sehgal repeatedly demanded access to the CCTV footage collected from the school premises. They also expressed concern that the tapes may be tampered with to remove evidence. However, the SSP assured that the footages will be made available to them soon and requested the parents to wait for the forensics report, which could shed light on the entire incident.
In the following meeting with the district administration, the parents expressed dissatisfaction with the role of Rajesh Yadav, ADM (finance and revenue) who was conducting the magisterial inquiry into the incident. However, Ministhy S, DM Ghaziabad, maintained that Yadav was one of the finest adminstrative officers available in the district and has been purposefully assigned the inquiry into Armaan’s death. However, the officials maintained that an inquiry inside the school could not not be conducted as the school had not been opened yet. “Everything is happening according to the legal framework and the prescribed duties of the officials. We have to follow the legal guidelines. I on my part, will do my best to get you justice," Ministhy S told the parents.
They also further urged the parents and the people present to register whatever information they have regarding the case. The administration had earlier floated a similar request to lodge information and statements regarding the case till August 11 but the date has been extended till August 22, as no one turned up. However, Yadav maintained that no one from the parents’ side had registered a statement. “Only the school authorities have registered their statements today but the parents are yet to do so,” said Rajesh Yadav.
