Koraput: A day after the heartbreaking drowning deaths of three Class X students at Kolab reservoir, three staff members of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Odisha’s Koraput district were suspended on Sunday.
According to sources, Bhopal-based regional office of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) has placed Physics teacher Chaman Kumar, Physical Education Teacher (PET) Rahul Singh, and hostel in-charge Ishwar Khara under suspension with an inquiry into the incident currently underway. Strict action will be taken against those found responsible for the tragedy, the sources added.
The incident took place between 3 pm and 3:30 pm on Saturday when the boys, all hostel boarders, went to the nearby reservoir for their final CBSE Class X board exami
nation paper to take a bath and relax. The backwaters of the Kolab reservoir lie close to the school premises. However, one among them reportedly slipped into deep water. The other two friends jumped in one after another in an attempt to save him but were unable to swim to safety.
The deceased were identified as Lingaraj Khilo of Koraput, Swastik Sundar Halwa of Laxmipur, and Om Prakash Halwa of Lamtaput. Later, a search operation was launched and the bodies were retrieved and sent to the Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital here for postmortem.
Meanwhile, the district administration has formed a four-member team to conduct a probe into the student. The team, comprising District Education Officer (DEO), District Welfare Officer (DWO), Tehsildar, and Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), jointly inspected the school hostel and the nearby riverbank area.
School authorities stated that parents had been repeatedly instructed to collect their children by 1:30 pm on the final day of examinations. However, the seven students who went to Kolab reservoir had told their parents they would leave the school campus the following day.