Panchgani:
Over a month after a Std IX student allegedly hanged himself in his school hostel room in Panchgani, the police have approached students, requesting them to play informants and provide clues to help solve the case.
The 17-year-old student of God's Valley International School (GVIS), Maimoon Khan, was found hanging by his school uniform tie in his hostel room, around 7pm on February 26.
Khan's family has alleged that the probe has been delayed as the school belongs to a state minister.
The family of the deceased lodged a complaint, alleging that Maimoon was murdered and the school authorities had abetted the murder.
However, so far neither the principal, vice-principal nor the hostel warden has been arrested.
The police have rebutted the family's claims and said investigations are on. They have now requested students to provide information anonymously.
"Khan hanged himself with a tie from the ceiling fan of his hostel room. A case of abetment has been filed against the school authorities but no arrest has been made as the matter is still being investigated," said a police officer.
"Before we lodged a police complaint, the principal praised our child and said he was a good student," said the deceased's uncle Akhtar Parvez. "However, after we lodged a complaint against the school authorities, he [the principal] threatened me. I have evidence of the same."
Parvez alleged that the police had earlier assured the family that the school officials would be arrested after the annual examination ended on March 12. "But there is still no sign of any arrest yet," he said.
School principal A K Upadhyay, said, "I have given my statement to the police and you can take the details from there. We don't want to comment on anything now. Neither have I spoken to the family nor have they contacted me. Their allegation of my threatening them is false."