Sambalpur: In a bizarre incident Saturday, a country-made pistol was found in a classroom of an upper primary (UP) school in Sambalpur. The incident has triggered strong resentment among parents of local students who are now in panicky, a source informed Monday.
According to the source, the firearm was recovered Saturday forenoon while a classroom at Rengumunda UP School under Jamankira police limits in the district was being cleaned. The weapon was secretely kept in a shelf inside the classroom. However, the room from which the country-made firearm was recovered had been under possession of a former teacher for quite a long time, who vacated it recently.
After, the assistant teacher named Gobinda Bhoi who was previously posted at the Rengumunda UP School had occupied two classrooms of the school. He was transferred elsewhere March 4. Moreover, his personal belongings are yet to be shifted, the source further said.
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“Bhoi lived in one of the classrooms and used another as a kitchen. It is suspected that the former assistant teacher was in possession of the pistol,” an employee expressed on the promise of anonymity.
The matter has been duly communicated to local Cluster Resource Center Coordinator (CRCC) and other department higher-ups.
On being informed, Jamankira police have launched an investigation into the matter to ascertain if Bhoi possessed the recovered pistol.
Notably, as acute shortage of classroom had been hampering study in the school, the authorities decided to clean up at least one of the rooms to facilitate convenient sitting of students. The former assistant teacher Bhoi is said to be a history-sheeter. He had allegedly attacked a man named Dileswar Sahu with an axe, in October last year.
PNN
