In a coldblooded murder in the college campus, Principal of Kartik Oraon College in Gumla Shashi Bhushan Prasad Sinha was ruthlessly hacked to death in his chamber by one of his students Rakesh Kujur alias Krishna Oraon on Wednesday afternoon.
Sinha, according to police, was hit several times on his neck by a sharp weapon (dagger) while sitting in his chamber. The police, however, have arrested the accused who was being interrogated till late in the evening till the filing of the report.
“Although, the reasons for the killing have not been revealed clearly so far, we have arrested the culprit along with the weapon used for the purpose near the campus. The student appears to be mentally unstable,” said Gumla SP Bhimsen Tuti.
Kujur, a BA Part - II student of the college, during the interrogation, is said to have admitted that he did kill the Principal as he feared that he was not going to get honours nor he will be allowed to live in the hostel. Kujur, according to police, is an orphan hailing from Hurhuria village in Gumla district.
"The boy was also saying that he killed the Principal because his friends asked him to do so in lieu of a fine of `10,000 imposed on him by his friends against the swindling of the same amount from the hostel fund," added the officer. "The boy has not given any clear reason for the act and appears to be out of his mind," added the officer.
"Kujur, being a prefect of his class, was a regular visitor to the Principal's chamber, entered it and started hitting on his neck all of a sudden from the dagger. The Principal received three injuries on his neck," said another police officer requesting anonymity.
According to eye-witnesses, the student came along with the weapon and attacked on Sinha all of a sudden, making several strikes on his neck and other parts of the body. Immediately the police was brought and Sinha was taken to the hospital where doctors declared him dead, said an eyewitness.
Meanwhile, students getting aggrieved by the incident, blocked city's Tower Chowk for over two hours and the police resorted to lathi charge to disperse the crowd and remove the blockade. The students further aggravated by the police action, later broke windscreens of several buses passing by the road.
The police also revealed that Sinha, acting Principal of Kartik Oraon College, had initiated several reforms in the college making admission process more transparent due to which some of the students of the college were not happy with him. The police was trying to connect the killing with it. Following the incident, Vice Chancellor of Ranchi University Ramesh Kumar Pandey along with the Registrar rushed to Gumla to take stock of the situation.
Sinha, a migrant of Champaran in Bihar is survived by his wife and two sons working in Jamshedpur and Daltonganj. His daughter is a Dentist, staying out of Jharkhand with family. At the time of the unfortunate incident both the sons of Sinha were at their workplaces in Jamshedpur and Daltonganj. His youngest son, Rahul, oblivious of the incident, reached Gumla in the afternoon. The last rites of the teacher will be performed on Thursday.