M A I N   N E W S

Infant crushed to death under school bus
Mob sets afire 2 school buildings
Nishikant Dwivedi
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, October 12
A mob set on fire two buildings of National School (private) in the camp area here and ransacked the third building after one-and-a-half-year-old Vansh was crushed to death under a bus of the school this morning.

Later in the day, hundreds of residents of the area jammed the Saharanpur-Kurukshetra national highway for about one hour, demanding the release of persons who were picked up by the police following the violence.

Following the violence, the district administration, as a precautionary measure, ordered the closure of all schools.

About 1,500 children in the two school buildings had just reached their respective classrooms after the morning assemblies, when men armed with rods and batons stormed the buildings and asked the children to vacate the premises few children sustained minor injuries as some of the members of the mob were pelting stones. The mob damaged property of the government school in the area. The police and firemen had to face resistance in bringing the situation under control.

According to reports, Ms Nirmala Devi, wife of the school Principal, along with her sons Rohit and Mohit, jumped from the first floor of the building (senior secondary wing) to save their lives. She was admitted to a hospital with a backbone injury, while one of her sons sustained a head injury. The Principal, Mr R.S. Pundir, was manhandled, but he escaped. Vansh, who had strayed out of his house, situated near the school, reportedly came under the front wheels of the ‘speeding’ school bus carrying children at around 8.25 am. As per another version, the child had toddled his way after his mother, who was going to send her daughter to school. The school is situated in a narrow lane and it is being alleged that bus drivers had been driving rashly and residents had warned them on several occasions. The father of Vansh owns a shop in the area.

Some local residents who saw the accident started shouting and a crowd started building, said police sources. While people of the colony and parents who had reached the school to drop their wards were gathering at the accident spot, children of the senior secondary wing were going to their classrooms after attending the morning assembly.

The mob entered the school building and asked the children to vacate the school buildings before ransacking and setting ablaze the buildings.

There was panic in the school as children started running out through an alternative gate of the school, as the main gate was jammed by the mob, leaving behind their bags and tiffin boxes. Shoes, books and tiffins were seen scattered.

“Some people came to our classroom and asked us to immediately vacate the building. They were carrying iron rods and sticks”, said Chander Shekhar, a Class X student. He added, “We bolted the door from inside to prevent the mob from entering the room”. Another student said some girl students of his class started weeping. More persons entered the school building and started throwing out furniture from the classrooms.

The mob later doused furniture, library and some vehicles parked in the school building with petrol or kerosene and set it on fire. The mob then moved to the second building, housing primary classes and situated 50 metres away from the first one, and did almost the same. The mob reportedly tried to set on fire another building of the school, situated at a distance, but could not do so because of heavy police deployment. Furniture and window panes of the building were broken.

As news of the violence spread, the authorities of government senior secondary school (Camp) asked the children to leave for their homes. Police sources said between five and eight youths entered the school and caused some damage to property.

The bus driver against whom a case was registered to escaped the fury of the mob.