AMROHA: A ten-year-old student at a madarsa was stabbed and his throat was slit while he was sleeping in the seminary's hostel on Tuesday.
The class four student was rushed to Medical College Hospital in Meerut in a critical condition. The motive behind the crime is not clear.
Suspecting insider's role in the brutal attack, local police have detained two madrasa employees for questioning.
According to sources, the blood trail went straight into the room of a seminary staffer and "there were visible attempts to wipe the stains."
The knife used in the crime belonged to the common kitchen of the madrasa, and it was later recovered from a field next to the seminary's boundary.
"There were 17 students in the hall when the attack took place. All of them were sleeping. Assailants entered the room clandestinely and slit the student's throat and stabbed him. The attackers fled after a student woke up to the pandemonium and started shouting for help," said a madrasa staffer.
Hearing the screams, the other madarsa staffers woke up and rushed to the hall.
The principal of the seminary took the child to a nearby community health centre (CHC), from where he was referred to the Medical College in Meerut.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Vipin Tada and Gajraula Station House Officer (SHO) D.K. Sharma reached the seminary and launched a probe. They have registered a case against unidentified persons.
SP Tada said, "Police have registered a case and detained two persons from the madrasa on suspicion. There were bloodstains on the floor of another room of a suspect. The culprit tried to wash it with water. We suspect that someone from the madrasa is involved in the attack. The cause of the attack is yet to be ascertained."
There are around 200 students in the madarsa.