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Miscreants torch school vehicles in Bokaro, probe on
According to police, three school buses and a Tata Magic vehicle were completely gutted in the incident, triggering panic among the school administration and parents. School director Krishna Gopal Pandey said the offenders entered the campus after 10 pm and carried out the attack in a planned manner.
Unidentified miscreants set fire to vehicles parked inside the Gurukul Public School campus under Pindrajoda police station limits in the Bokaro district on Thursday night, causing losses estimated to be in lakhs of rupees, officials said on Friday.
According to police, three school buses and a Tata Magic vehicle were completely gutted in the incident, triggering panic among the school administration and parents.
School director Krishna Gopal Pandey said the offenders entered the campus after 10 pm and carried out the attack in a planned manner.
“They first cut the wires of the CCTV cameras so that their activities could not be recorded. Then they locked the room of the on-duty guard, Devi Lal, from outside, along with his residential room, and set the vehicles on fire,” Pandey said.
“The blaze spread rapidly, reducing the three buses—the 55-seater, 53-seater, and 43-seater—and the Tata Magic to ashes within minutes. The vehicles were used for students’ daily commuting, and their loss has affected the school’s transport operations,” Pandey said, adding that on receiving information, the school informed the Pindrajoda police station and the fire department, but by the time they reached, the vehicles had been destroyed.
Pandey stated that all the vehicles were insured, but the institution would still face serious financial and operational difficulties.
Officer-in-Charge of Pindrajoda police station, Abhishek Kumar Ranjan, said, “We have launched an investigation into the case and are examining CCTV footage from nearby locations to identify those involved.”
Chas DSP Praveen Kumar Singh said, “Prima facie, somebody from the school organization or somebody aware of the school campus seems to be involved in the incident, though we have launched a detailed investigation into the incident as an FIR has been lodged by the school management against unidentified persons.”
“The incident took place in the parking lot of the school, which is on the other side of the road, away from the school campus where the hostel is also situated,” said Singh, and added that there was only one security guard in the parking lot at the time of the incident.
