TWO MINOR students were detained for allegedly attacking a 54-year-old teacher with a knife while he was taking attendance in a classroom in Bahraich, police said on Saturday. The teacher, Rajendra Prasad Verma, suffered injuries on his neck and head and is undergoing treatment. Doctors said that he is now stable.
Police said one of the students was upset with the teacher for reprimanding him over bringing a cellphone to school and the other boy, also a teenager, assisted him in the attack. Verma teaches at a private intermediate college.
“On the basis of CCTV footage from the college, we identified the two boys and apprehended them. They were presented before the Juvenile Justice Board, which sent them to a correctional home,” said the station house officer of the police station concerned.
According to the police, on Tuesday, Verma found a cellphone in the possession of one of the students. The teacher scolded the student and confiscated the phone.
Later that day, when the student approached him again, the teacher returned the phone with a warning that if he brought it to school again, it would be confiscated permanently and his family would be informed.
On November 12, while Verma was taking attendance in class, the student whose phone had been confiscated approached him. Another student, also detained by the police, approached them and allegedly handed a knife from his bag to the former.
“The boy then attacked the teacher with the knife, causing injuries to his neck and head even as the teacher tried to defend himself. When other students raised the alarm, the two boys fled with the knife,” said a police officer.
Verma was taken to a hospital and the police were informed of the incident. “We recorded statements from school staff and students present in the class at the time,” the officer added.
