Gujarat: Class 10 boy murdered by classmate, school looted by mob

One class 10 student of a private school in Ahmedabad was allegedly stabbed to death by his classmate in a fight, resulting in a massive protest and school looting by locals and parents on Wednesday, police said.

The suspect teenager was nabbed by the police following the assault while the victim succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday night, an officer said.

Police confirmed that the victim and perpetrator were both students of class 10.

Earlier, state education minister Praful Pansheriya had stated that a class 10 student was stabbed by his junior who was a class 9 student.

"A 10th class boy attacked his classmate in Seventh Day School yesterday. The victim succumbed to the injuries during the night when he was undergoing treatment. Police have filed an FIR and the juvenile suspect has been arrested," Joint Commissioner of Police Jaipal Singh Rathore said.

On Wednesday morning, the situation soon turned into chaos, victim's relatives, parents of other students, and members of the Sindhi community went in large numbers to the school campus and demanded action against the administration. The mob vandalized the school buses, two-wheelers, and four-wheelers parked within the institute. They also attacked the school staff, police officials reported.

Police authorities at first fought to control the situation and shoved the crowd back from the school premises.

While the incident assumed a communal hue as the accused student is a member of a minority group, and the victim is Sindhi. As the protesters sat down on the highway, creating traffic jams. They shouted slogans against the police, calling for action to be taken against the school management.

"We demand justice. We lost our child today. It would be some other child tomorrow. Unless tough action is taken, it will repeat itself," cried a victim's relative.

Local MLA Amul Bhatt tried to calm down the mob with folded hands. Holding a megaphone in his hand, he requested them to keep their demands aside and let the police do their work.

Crime Branch Joint Commissioner of Police Sharad Singhal told the media that the city police commissioner has agreed to the protester's demand that the probe be transferred to the crime branch.

Police will probe the accusation by parents that six or seven individuals assisted the accused student in the crime and that evidence was manipulated by the school administration by requesting a water tanker.

"If we find evidence against other individuals, we will arrest them. A forensic unit will also confirm the report that a water tanker had been called by an individual from the school to sanitize the crime scene. We will take a serious step if evidence surfaces," Singhal added.

JCP Rathore requested agitators to put in writing their allegations against the school administration which would be sent to the related department for action.

Police are going through CCTV footage to find vandals, he said.

State education minister Praful Pansheriya has termed the killing "unfortunate and a red signal for a civilised society".

"There is a case being sought. The education department will investigate the case," he stated, and raised an eyebrow over increasingly aggressive behavior from students.