In a development that shocked the country, three people, including the leader of the right-wing outfit Sri Ram Sene and two accomplices, were arrested in Karnataka's Belagavi for poisoning a school's water tank. Their intention was reportedly to get the school principal, who hails from a minority community, transferred from the school.
The horrific incident was reported at a government primary school in Hulikatti village in Belagavi district in July. Eleven students needed medical aid after consuming the drinking water at the government school that was purposefully poisoned by the trio led by Sagar Patil, who is the president of the Savadatti taluk unit of Sri Ram Sene. The other two accused were identified as Krishna Madar and Magangouda Patil.
It was Krishna Madar who reportedly brought the pesticide to be mixed into the drinking water storage tank of the government school. Sagar Patil threatened Madar that he would disclose his inter-caste romantic relationship to the villagers if he did not do as asked, the Belagavi Police reportedly found out. Madar carried to the school premises in a small bottle and bribed a child to pour it into the tank.
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However, the students noticed a foul odour from the water and tipped off the teachers, who prohibited the entire school from consuming the water. Eleven unsuspecting children had drunk from the pipe by then and soon fell sick. They were nauseous and needed medical assistance, the Indian Express said in a report.
The police team recovered the bottle used by Madar to bring the pesticide to the school not far from the water tank, the daily said. A later probe revealed that he paid a minor money and chocolates to mix the contents of the bottle into the water tank. It was only a matter of time before the three men were arrested, the daily added.
Communal hatred behind evil plan
Sagar Patil came up with the vicious plan to get Suleman Gorenayak, the principal of the school, either transferred or suspended. Gorenayak, popular among the villagers and students, was serving the school for his thirteenth year. The right-wing group's leader had a problem with his faith and wanted him gone.
Magangouda Patil, the third accused, helped Krishna Madar buy the poison after he decided to join the plan to evade Patil's ire. According to the police, the minor who mixed the pesticide in the water for Madar will be a prosecution witness, the Indian Express said.
