The mid-day meal served to students of the Government primary school in Saran district contained poisonous pesticide that was five times deadlier than the standard product sold in the market. The much-awaited forensic report that came on Saturday maintained that the food had Monocrotophos, an organophosphorous compound used as a pesticide for agricultural purposes which is highly toxic for human beings as well as animals.
In all, 23 students of the school died after having the mid-day meal on July 16.
ADG (Headquarters) Ravindra Kumar told newspersons that Forensic Science laboratory (FSl) scientists found the toxic pesticide in the samples of oil from the plastic container, food remains on the platter and mixture of rice with vegetables on an aluminum utensil found at the cooking site of the school.
The alarming forensic report came even as the Bihar Government has decided to attach the property of Meena Devi, the school principal, who could not be arrested so far having given police the slip since the tragic incident. “An intensive search operation is on to nab her. The administration has decided to attach her property to put pressure on her to come forward,” Saran SP Sujit Kumar said.
An inquiry conducted by the Bihar Government has held her responsible for the deaths due to her gross negligence. The Opposition parties, in the meanwhile, intensified their attack against the government, particularly in backdrop of its failure in arresting the principal. According to Saran district officials probing the incident, Meena Devi had allegedly forced the cook to use the oil despite the latter’s complaint that it had a pungent smell.
“It was observed from the data available in the FSl report that the peak area of the poisonous substance in the oil was more than five times in comparison to the commercial preparation used as a control,” the ADG said.
Some other materials like froth from the mouth of one sick child on a cotton gauge collected from the place of occurrence by the forensic team, water and Kachhi Ghani oil collected from the site by the police were also analysed by the forensic experts.
“The sample results were compared with a control standard (Hilcron) procured from the market, the peak retention times were matching with the sample which again confirms the presence of the pesticide in the samples,” the police officer added.
R lakshmanan, Director of the midday meal in the State, said the school in Gandaman village would be merged with the nearest middle school having a better midday meal infrastructure. The bodies of the children have been buried right in front of the school and locals have made it clear they would not allow the school to function again.
lakshmanan also said that government had taken a policy decision not to run schools from rented and dilapidated structures and equip new units with full-fledged kitchens.