Barpali: Tension ran high after irate villagers locked up a teacher in a classroom of Agalpur High School in Bargarh district Monday and pelted stones at police who came to rescue the teacher accused of molesting a Class IX girl student and passing lewd comments at her.
The villagers allegedly bolted the teacher, Ajay Meher, in a classroom before sealing the main gate of the school. On being informed, police rushed to the spot and tried to intervene in the melee. However, the irate villagers refused to listen and pelted stones at them. Consequently, a policeman was injured in the incident.
Tension was palpable in the locality as villagers clashed with the police when the latter tried to intervene.
Later, the police rescued Meher and detained him at the police station, said Barpali IIC Rojalin Patel. However, no complaint has been filed against Meher in this connection when reports last came in, she said.
Meanwhile, district education officer (DEO) Prakash Kumar Joshi suspended Meher from his post after being apprised on the development, block education officer Rajendra Kumar Mishra said. Police have also arrested villager Shankar Prasad Majhi on charges of pelting stones at the police personnel on duty. A case has been registered against him while similar cases have been registered against other villagers for the stone-pelting incidents and inciting violence, the IIC said.
The incident occurred after Meher allegedly molested a girl student of Class IX. After the reports surfaced, tension prevailed in the village. Hundreds of villagers marched towards the school and pulled out Meher from a room and locked him inside a classroom. Later, they also locked up the main gate of the school for his alleged action.
On being informed, police officials rushed to the spot and tried to intervene. However, the villagers flew into a rage on seeing the police and pelted stones at them as the latter tried to placate them.
PNN