Bodies of two children found, mob lynches school director

The director of a leading school died on Sunday after being thrashed by a mob following the recovery of the bodies of two students from a ditch in Bihar's Nalanda district.

Devendra Prasad, director of Devendra Public School, succumbed during treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), said Nalanda SP Sidharth Mohan Jain.

He added that the victim's body has been sent for  post-mortem.

TV footage showed that the director of the school located near <g data-gr-id="31">Nirpur</g> village was mercilessly beaten up with lathis, kicked and punched by a mob, who held him responsible for the death of the students.

The battered Prasad was taken by a police team led by the DSP (Law and Order) Sanjay Kumar to Sadar Hospital in Biharsharif, where doctors referred him to PMCH at Patna, the SP said.

He said strict action would be taken against the guilty. An FIR was lodged against those responsible for assaulting Prasad, Jain added.

Earlier in the day, the bodies of two students, aged 7-8 years, were fished out from a water body.

Charging Prasad for being responsible for the death of the students – Ravi Kumar and Sagar Kumar – the villagers attacked the school, torching two rooms of the school and some vehicles.

The mob also targeted policemen, who had arrived at the spot to probe the death of two students. Six policemen were injured in the incident, police said.