Police probe begins into Sainik School 'ragging'

Kodarma (Jharkhand), Nov 15 (PTI) The police today began questioning 'victims' of Sainik School, Tilaiya, after news channels aired footage of senior students beating up juniors, while the school authorities said the footage was at least a year old. "No FIR has been filed by anyone on the incident. Investigations are on," Koderma Superintendent of Police Shambhu Thakur told PTI over phone. The video showed at least seven students were being beaten up with belts by seniors. But, Thakur said: "Three of them denied to have been beaten up. Another student, now at his home in Gumla, also denied." The police were trying to contact another student, whom the media quoted as saying that he was in Ranchi and scared of returning to school following the incident, said the SP who visited the school yesterday. Registrar of the School, Abhitabh Ranjan, presented one of the students, Sonu Satyam, before an education department official after the media reported that he had fled the school following the 'ragging'. Claiming that the purported video footage shown in the news channels appeared at least one year old, he said one of the guards Chunchun, spotted in the footage, was removed nearly a year ago, indicating the incident to be a year old. Meanwhile, he said, a complaint box was today placed in the school, asking junior students write slips about ragging and put them inside it. So far no slip was found, the registrar added. Following a direction by the Patna High Court to have a probe, District Education Officer Narayan Vishvas visited the school today.