New Delhi: In a spine-chilling crime, two teenaged students stabbed to death the principal of a private school in Haryana’s Hisar.
The 52-year-old Jagbir Pannu, who ran Kartar Memorial Senior Secondary School in Bass village in Hansi area, was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Ironically, the principal was attacked by his students inside the school campus on Thursday, which happened to be Guru Purnima.
Police claimed that the two boys were angry with the principal over being reprimanded repeatedly for indiscipline, including growing their hair long.
The accused, students of class XI and XII, attacked the principal with a knife around 10.30 am.
According to police, the students appeared for a unit test on Thursday morning, after which they approached the principal in his office and asked him to step outside.
Pannu, a strict disciplinarian, was led to a part of the campus which wasn’t under CCTV surveillance, where one of the students allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed him several times.
“The principal suffered multiple stab wounds in the attack. We have recovered a foldable knife from the school premises and prima facie it appears that they killed the principal with the same knife,” Hansi superintendent of police (SP) Amit Yashvardhan said.
The SP informed that preliminary investigation suggested that the principal used to rebuke the teenagers for indiscipline and often asked them to tuck in their shirts and get their hair trimmed.
“If there was any personal rivalry between them, it will be revealed during the investigation,” said the SP.
CCTV footage captured the two boys running away and discarding the knife in nearby bushes.
The murder weapon has been recovered, while police are trying to nab the suspects.
“We have identified both the attackers and registered a case of murder against them. Four teams have been formed to apprehend them. We have accessed the CCTV footage in which the accused can be seen running from the spot after attacking the principal,” the SP said, adding that the exact reason for the crime will be known once the two teenagers are arrested.
The autopsy report of Pannu is awaited. He is survived by his wife and two sons — one a doctor and the other an advocate.
The brutal killing has left the school community in shock and reignited concerns over rising student aggression and safety in educational institutions.
