Ragging in army school

HT, New Delhi, Dec 12, 2005

Soumyajit Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, December 11

The occasional boarder's horrifying tale notwithstanding, the Sainik School has been the byword for discipline. That reputation was shaken when ragging raged in Bhubaneswar Sainik School, following which school authorities asked students to vacate hostels and leave the premises on Saturday.

The campus now wears a deserted look except for the policemen on duty.

Though the school management has remained tight-lipped on the issue, even barring the media from entering the campus, the Bhubaneswar police said they had deployed a team to restore normalcy to the campus.

According to sources, trouble started when some students of Class IX were asked to parade naked before their seniors. When the students protested, fisticuffs ensued which later turned into a free-for-all with both groups fighting with hockey sticks. After the clash, all the students from Class IX to Class XII were asked to pack up.

Bhubaneswar superintendent of police Amitabh Thakur told the Hindustan Times that the school authorities did not inform them of the incident. "We deployed our force on campus though the school administration was reluctant to accept our assistance," he said.

Students trooping out of the hostel gates, on their way to the railway station, said a few of their classmates had sustained head injuries and were being treated at the school dispensary. Many of the students, most of them from outside Orissa, had difficulty in getting to the railway station as it is quite far from the school. Booking tickets for their journey was another problem.