SUKH RIVER DROWNING: Cops to visit students’ homes, record statements

Meet Chadwa, Prahul Narayan Patel and Kushal Nilesh Dadha, all aged 14 years, were studying in Class IX at the school in Virar. They had gone missing last Monday at 8.30pm, and the police had registered a missing case the following morning. On Wednesday, their bodies were fished out of the Sukh River near the school.

On Thursday, acting on complaints by Meet’s father Suresh Chadwa and a student of the same class, the Virar police arrested the Sanskrit and physical training teachers, identified as Ripusudan Shivkumar Garg and Sandeep Janya Palva respectively.

Based on the statements of another boy from the same class, the police had arrested Arun Sureshchandra Sharma, a science teacher, and Ashish Ashok Khanvilkar, an accountant in the school, on Friday. They were released on bail later the same day.

“Other staff members may also be involved in beating up the boys. As the school is closed, we have decided to visit each student
separately,” said an officer.

The students have been sent home owing to the Ganpati festival. The school reopens on Tuesday, police said. “A police team will visit the houses of the children in plainclothes and try to talk to each one of them,” said the officer.

The police are awaiting postmortem reports to ascertain the cause of death of the three boys.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com