High School teachers in the State are up in arms against the Government over suspension of Hindi teacher of Ayatpur High School Panchanan Behera in the wake of the bomb blast during his class that left 21 students injured.
The Odisha Secondary School Teachers’ Association (OSSTA) has threatened to launch a statewide teachers’ strike if the suspension order is not revoked. Behera was placed under suspension by Cuttack district education officer a day after the explosion allegedly caused by a bomb brought by a student.
Behera was about to start teaching after taking the attendance when the bomb slipped out of the school bag of the student and crashed on to the floor.
“How can the teacher be held responsible for the incident if a student slips in a bomb in his bag to school? Behera has been made a scapegoat in the issue,” general secretary of OSSTA Raghunath Sahu said.
The Government should pass an order that bags of all students should be checked before they enter the classes or the school premises, they suggested.
“We have demanded immediate roll-back of the suspension order failing which a statewide stir would be launched,” Sahoo said. Meanwhile, police investigation into the incident established that the boy Raj Kumar Sahoo had brought the bomb not only on the fateful day but also on earlier occasions though without any criminal motive.
His intention was to show off before his peers. He had taken friends and demonstrated the explosion on the banks of a nearby river, sources said.
The police, however, are yet to ascertain how the boy laid hands on the explosives regularly.
He has stated that he found the bombs lying on the ground on his way to school.
The police are set to question the boy after he recovers from the injuries sustained in the blast.