Patna, Nov. 13: Arjun Rai, the husband of Gandaman Primary School principal Meena Devi, allegedly weaved a concocted story to protect her from harsher punishment.
Twenty-three children died and 28 others were to be hospitalised hours after they had poison-laced mid-day meal at the school in Saran district on July 16.
A 70-page report of Rai’s layered voice analysis (LVA) test has been sent by Ahmedabad-based Raksha Shakti University to Saran superintendent of police Varun Kumar Sinha yesterday.
A special investigation team (SIT) had video-graphed Rai’s statement in police custody and sent the same to Raksha Shakti University, which specialises in scientific investigation of crimes, for an LVA test. Rai had turned down the SIT’s request for a polygraph test to ascertain his role in hatching the conspiracy of the tragic incident.
Sinha said the LVA test report would be submitted to the court in a day or two. He clarified that the LVA test was admissible as evidence in the court under Section 293 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). “This is evident that Rai had cooked up a false story to shield his wife from harsher punishment,” Sinha said.
He, however, refused to elaborate further on the pretext that it would hamper the trial of the case. “Since the report of the test has not been submitted to the court concerned, it would not be justified to reveal the contents of the test LVA findings,” he said, adding that the chargesheet against the couple had already been filed.
He said that the LVA report would be part of the supplementary chargesheet filed against the couple, who were lodged at Saran divisional jail. “The LVA helps to a large extent in finding out if the accused are lying or hiding facts while being interrogated,” the SP clarified.
He said the voice samples of the person in question are recorded during both casual and serious conversations and then analysed. “The standard deviation helps experts assess whether the accused are lying or hiding facts,” Sinha added.
On the contrary, a polygraph test was conducted on the principal of the school under the supervision of a two-member forensic team from Delhi.
The investigating officer of the case had earlier requested the court headed by district and sessions judge Navneet Kumar Pandey to conduct speedy trial of the two accused, who were charged with criminal negligence. The couple were booked under Sections 302 and 307of the IPC.
Rai was, however, was accused of hatching the criminal conspiracy. The SP said the chargesheet was filed against the accused on October 20 to meet the 90-day deadline. The chargesheet, however, did not hint at political conspiracy as alleged by some senior leaders of the ruling JD(U), including education minister P.K. Shahi. “The chargesheet only says that the meal was cooked with the pesticide, which the principal’s husband had bought from a Gopalganj-based sugar factory for agricultural purposes,” a source said.
Both Rai and Devi were produced before the trial court on Tuesday. The court remanded them in judicial custody till November 26.
