After recovery of the bodies of all the four students of a school in the city, who had drowned in the Barang-Puri main canal on Tuesday, the local Sub-Collector and District Education Officer on Wednesday morning began an enquiry into the tragedy by visiting the spot and the school.
The officials reached the Government High School at Rail Vihar in Chandrasekharpur and spoke to teachers, students and guardians in the course of their enquiry.
Notably, Schools and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra had on Tuesday ordered the district administration to conduct an enquiry into the incident and submit a report within 24 hours.
The Minister with local MlA Priyadarshi Mishra visited the school in the morning to have a firsthand account of the situation. “The DEO and the Sub-Collector are investigating into the incident. We will take appropriate action in the case after getting the probe report,” said the Minister.
The body of the fourth student Pratap Routray was fished out at about 5 am on Wednesday from the canal.
The fire brigade and the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) team had fished out the bodies of three students, identified as Abhijit Sabat, Bunty Digal and Manas Nayak, on Tuesday night.
A student, who was also in the group, said a lady teacher of the school had on Tuesday scolded them and asked them not to come to school for 15 days as they were found playing during recess. Then, 14 Class-IX students skipped classes and, after visiting the Nandankanan zoo, went to take bath in the canal.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to the bereaved families of four deceased students. He also offered condolences to the kin of the deceased.