Ghaziabad: Opposition leaders protest against incident leading to Arman’s death

More than 100 leaders from parties, including the Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal and other associations took part in the protest march at district headquarters.

Nearly ten days after class IV student Arman Sehgal died at the GD Goenka School campus on August 1, members of various opposition political parties and associations arrived at the district headquarters to protest and demanded immediate arrest of the school authorities.

Local leaders from opposition parties held a protest at DM office demanding justice for Arman Sehgal. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Following the incident, Arman’s parents have lodged an FIR under sections of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and destruction of evidence against the school authorities. However, the police have failed to make any arrest stating that their investigations are still on.

“We are not satisfied and had there been some action in the case, many people would not have come here for protest. There has been no arrest so far in the case. It is not the only case. Police is acting in a similar way in so many other cases as well. There have been protests against fee hike but the issue is yet to be resolved and parents are suffering,” said Swatantra Yadav, a senior Congress leader.

More than 100 leaders from parties, including the Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal and other associations took part in the protest march at district headquarters.

“We went to meet the district magistrate and also the senior superintendent of police but they were not present in office. There is absolutely no headway into the case. Arman’s parents have also staged protest and running from pillar to post to get him justice. However, the grieving parents are yet to get any assurance from authorities,” said Satish Sharma, another Congress leader.

The protesters also went to the office of district magistrate and senior superintendent of police but the two officials were busy with their official assignment as the deputy chief minister had arrived for a private function in the city.

“Apart from justice to Arman’s parents, we also demand that the district administration should also initiate checking at various schools and see to it that safety guidelines are followed as per norms. This will ensure that no other student suffer the similar incident like Arman did,” said Suresh Bansal, former MLA from Bahujan Samaj Party.

The protesters later met Rajesh Kumar Yadav, additional district magistrate (finance & revenue) and submitted a memorandum.

“We assured that their memorandum will be forwarded to the SSP for further action. They were also demanding checking of the affiliation of the school. We told them that we have written to the district inspector of schools for checking up the school affiliation documents,” Yadav added.