The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Day after 3 student deaths, police hint at conspiracy
KARNATAKA FOOD POISONING CASE
A DAY after three students of Vidyavaridhi International School at Huliyar in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district died of food poisoning, the school wore a deserted look on Friday. The school management sent messages to the phones of parents on Thursday night, saying that the school would be closed till the next week. The only sign of life was policemen in a van stationed on the deserted campus as a security measure.
The chairman of the school Kiran Kumar, a former BJP MLA from the region, and his wife Kavitha Kiran Kumar, have gone underground after being roughed up by some parents at the Tumakuru government hospital mortuary on Thursday, said police.
The father of one of the victims, Class X student Akanksh Pallaki (16), filed a police complaint in Tumakuru on Friday, alleging that his son was deliberately killed by someone in the school. In his complaint, K Lakshmikanthaiah has alleged that a dispute between the former school principal T S Ravi, who was sacked three months ago, and the school chairman Kiran Kumar lies at the root of the tragedy. He has alleged that the sambar served for dinner at the hostel on Wednesday night was deliberately poisoned by someone.
Besides Akanksh, Class VIII student Y Shreyas (14) and Class X student K Shantharaju (16) died in the tragedy. Another Class X student Sudarshan (14) and security guard Ramesh (50) are undergoing treatment at the district hospital. Four staff members of the school, who had been arrested, were produced before a magistrate and released on bail.
A senior police officer supervising the probe into the incident said preliminary findings indicate that a conspiracy could be behind the poisoning. The probe has suggested that the sambar served at dinner was poisoned around 9 pm when the first of the 28 students in the hostel came to the dining hall, he said. The police have found that those who consumed the sambar served before 9 pm did not face any problems. Among them are the assistant cook Rangalakshmi, who ate around 8.30 pm, and the family of Kiran Kumar, who were sent the food at 7 pm.
Police have also found that the CCTV system in the school had been disconnected on January 13 and no one had noticed it till Thursday. While conditions under which the food was prepared in the hostel kitchen were unhygienic, the cause of the food poisoning appears to be a pesticide, police sources said.
“Coming to an official conclusion at this stage is not fair. We will wait for forensic and autopsy reports. If it is proven that someone mixed poison in the food, we will question all suspects, including the former principal,” the senior police officer said.
According to S R Darshan, a Class X student at the school who witnessed the events on Wednesday night, the three victims warned their hostel mates about the food after they ate it.
“Shreyas, Akanksh and Shantha Murthy were the first to eat that night. They ate rice and sambar. After eating, they told others to avoid rice and sambar, citing bad taste and smell. Shreyas then went to sleep in his room, Shantha Murthy collapsed on the way to his room and Akanksh collapsed in the dining hall. Sudarshan stopped eating midway, saying the food was not good,” Darshan said.
Most students at the CBSE affiliated school are from welloff agricultural families in the region bordering the districts of Tumakuru and Chitradurga. Parents pay about Rs 30,000 a year as fees and an additional Rs 40,000 annually if their wards are boarders at the hostel.