GURUGRAM: Ashok Kumar , the bus conductor of Ryan International School, Bhondsi, who was identified as the main accused in the Pradhyumn Thakur murder case and arrested by Gurgaon police on September 8, was released on bail on Wednesday after spending 76 days in jail. The bail bond of Rs 50,000 was paid by Mahesh Raghav, a resident of Kumar's village Ghamroj."He is innocent and was framed. The entire village is happy he has been released," said Raghav. Inside the jail, Kumar had breakfast, lunch and tea before being released from his isolated cell.On his release, exactly at 7.15pm, Kumar told everyone who had assembled to receive him that from the time he was incarcerated, he had told everyone he is innocent, and that most inmates had believed him. "Everyone in jail believed I am innocent. I'm thankful to the media for being with me in this case," he said. Kumar, accompanied by his father, lawyer, two teens (Sumit and Sandeep of Ghamroj village) and Raghav, was whisked away in a white Scorpio to his village.His father Amichand, said, "I'm very relieved today. We saw some hope after this case was transferred to CBI. Till the time it was with Gurgaon police, we saw no light for Ashok. They had mercilessly beaten him and made him confess to a crime he had never committed. I'd like to thank Pradhyumn's family for insisting on a CBI inquiry."Gurgaon police had sent a car to take Kumar home. However, his lawyer Mohit Verma refused, saying, "I don't trust the cops, so I insisted we'll take him."At Ghamroj, villagers were ready to welcome Kumar. He was initially taken to a neighbour's house. His lawyer now plans to take Gurgaon police to court. "Now that Ashok is out, we'll file a defamation case against the cops," said Verma.

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