Patna: Bihar police have issued an order to arrest Ravi Ranjan, the principal of Muzaffarpur Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) for trying to suppress the incident of a Dalit student being thrashed by his classmates.
“An arrest warrant against Muzaffarpur Kendriya Vidyalaya’s Principal, Ravi Ranjan, was issued on the basis of a probe report conducted by senior police officers,” a police officer was quoted as saying by Zee News.
City superintendent of police Anand Kumar ordered Ranjan’s arrest under the SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) act after finding that he was guilty of suppressing the incident and trying to tamper with the evidence.
Though the incident happened two months back, it came to light after a video of the boys thrashing the Dalit boy was circulated on social media. The maternal grandfather had lodged a complaint with the SC/ST police station in Muzaffarpur on October 16.
On October 19, Ranjan was suspended by the KV Sangathan (KVS) for inappropriate handling of the complaint filed by the victim, who is a 16-year-old student. Along with this, 22 of the 120 teachers of the school were transferred for supporting the mischievous actions of Ranjan after an investigation by a three-member team of the school.
“Ravi Ranjan was suspended by KVS for not taking timely action on the victim`s complaint,” a KVS official said.
Two of the accused were given 10-day suspension after a probe by the five-member disciplinary action committee set up by Ranjan. Two other accused, who are siblings, were sentenced to a correction home by the Juvenile Justice Board.
In the meanwhile, the students of the school have started protests against transferring existing teachers to other schools. They are of the opinion that the action would affect their studies as the half-yearly examination is just a month away.