Teacher faked abduction to stop merger of schools in Bulandshahr, suspended
On July 7,the head of the school education department learned that Ankit Kumar had been 'kidnapped' by villagers protesting plans to merge his school, home to just 30 students, with another, located 1.5 km at Chithera village. Education officials dispatched the block officer to verify the report and secure his release.
Basic Shiksha Adhikari (Bulandshahr) Laxmikant Pandey told The Indian Express that the fake kidnapping of the teacher came to light when an investigation began into the case. 'There are 30 students at the primary school and we were planning to shift them to a primary school at Chithera village, which is 1.5km away from Shakarpur,' said Pandey.
'He had convinced villagers to kidnap him. He had told them that once the two schools were merged their children would not be able to attend classes anymore as the distance would increase. The villagers then kidnapped him thinking that the news of his kidnapping will stop the merger,' said the official.
His fake kidnapping came to light when the team of education officials started questioning villagers. 'We received information that Kumar was kidnapped by a group of villagers and was locked inside a classroom. Soon, I rushed the team of officials to rescue him. After convincing villagers for nearly half an hour, they released Kumar,' he said.
Pandey said that Kumar on Monday submitted an affidavit seeking forgiveness for his act. 'It was a drama to stop the merger. We had prepared the list of 382 schools of which 184 have been merged. A similar process was going on at Shikarpur as well. I had suspended the teacher with immediate effect but on Monday, he submitted an affidavit seeking forgiveness for his act. We are looking into this matter,' he said.
The merging of schools began after the Uttar Pradesh government began an initiative to pair every primary school with low attendance to nearby educational facilities to make the education system more functional and viable, aligning with the goals of the New Education Policy, 2020.
Neetika Jha is a Correspondent with The Indian Express. She covers crime, health, environment as well as stories of human interest, in Noida, Ghaziabad and western UP. When not on the field she is probably working on another story idea. On weekends, she loves to read fiction over a cup of coffee. The Thursday Murder club, Yellow Face and Before the Coffee Gets Cold were her recent favourites. She loves her garden as much as she loves her job. She is an alumnus of Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. ... Read More
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Job promises rain down in poll-bound Bihar. But what does the pursuit of one look like?
IT'S THE weekend, and Patna's Gandhi Maidan area is buzzing with thousands of youths from across Bihar. Their destination is the nearby Gyan Bhawan, more specifically a 'Maha Rojgar Mela (Grand Job Fair)' organised by the Indian Youth Congress (IYC). As the gates of the building swing open, the applicants rush in, collecting forms and making small huddles in the auditorium itself to fill them out. Once they have completed the forms, they join long queues snaking into the main hall. Inside, half the space is reserved for candidates awaiting interviews, while the other half has 199 stalls set up by 190 private companies, including household names such as Flipkart, Paytm, Hitachi, Tech Mahindra, Tata Alliance, Voltas, Zepto, and Aditya Birla. The youths make a beeline for these stalls, holding their registration forms, academic certificates, and resumes in hand. Among the multitude is 24-year-old Jyotish Kumar, who hopes the job fair is the answer to his 'financial problems'. Belonging to a village in Madhepura district, Kumar arrived in Patna first in 2019, seeking better education options and coaching for NEET. However, months later, his father was killed, while his mother, too, lost her job when the Centre's 'Sakshar Bharat Mission' for adult literacy wrapped up. Kumar went back, giving up on his dreams of becoming a doctor, and pursued a BSc in Zoology from Madhepura University. Now saddled with a Rs 3 lakh loan, he is back in Patna to support his mother. Though his first preference is a job in Bihar, he says he will move if needed. The story plays out across the hall. Md Mahbubur Rahman, 26, says he is an economics graduate from Saharsa, with an additional Bachelor of Library and Information Science degree, and certificates showing he has computer knowledge. It is an impressive resume, particularly as none of his siblings went past intermediate. However, that has not got Rahman the job he needs. So he is now pursuing another qualification: a BEd. 'I have been applying for government jobs since passing matric (Class 10) in 2015, and am now trying my luck in the private sector,' he says. Recently, he tried his luck for a government peon's post, despite his educational qualifications, Rahman says. With his large family including his parents, three brothers and two sisters, Rahman also tutors kids on the side to earn a little money. Trying to push through a crowd near a stall, Rahman says: 'Since there are no jobs in our family, our lives are stuck. Marriage prospects are also an issue.' The unemployment question is central to the discourse in Bihar as Assembly elections near. Political parties are trying to outdo each other with promises of job creation. With the RJD hoping its promises in this regard will work for it like they did in the 2000 elections, Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar has also jumped in, vowing to create 1 crore jobs in the next five years. The job fair held by its Youth Congress is part of the Congress's push in this regard, including a 'Palayan Roko, Naukri Do (stop migration, give jobs) Yatra' it held in March. The numbers show why the promise of jobs resonates so much with voters. The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for July-September 2024, which contains data only for urban areas, puts Bihar's unemployment rate for those aged above 15 at 7.3%, which is above the national average of 6.4%, and for those aged 15-29 years at 23.2%, well above the national average of 15.9% and the sixth worst among the states. When it comes to the labour force participation rate (a measure of the share of the working-age population actively working or seeking work), Bihar has the worst figures in the country in the above 15 years and the 15-29 years categories. As per the 2011 Census data, the corollary is that Bihar ranks second among states in out-migration, beaten only by Uttar Pradesh. Rahman expects to join the migrant ranks. 'My father keeps telling us to try for jobs outside Bihar… After my I'll see.' Rahul Bansal, who has travelled three hours from Khagaria for the fair, says that all 'good jobs' are outside the state, which is also a problem for people like him. 'Even here at the mela, most of the location options are in other states. But in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru, the expenses alone would eat up the entire salary. So, I prefer something here,' says the 29-year-old. While Rahman argues that Nitish Kumar's long tenure at the helm of the state has not benefited the youth, citing the leak of several exam question papers, 26-year-old Sagar Shan disagrees, talking about the recruitment of 'over 4 lakh teachers and 1 lakh constables alone'. From Nitish's native district of Nalanda, Shah has himself been trying for a government job since 2019. IYC national president Uday Bhanu Chib told The Indian Express that the Patna job fair saw 48,000 registrations, with more than 20,000 candidates interviewed, and 7,000 receiving job letters on the spot. Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru said the rush exposed the NDA government's 'false assurances' to the youth. 'We are providing them jobs so that they can achieve their dreams. Unemployment in Bihar is not just a number, but is about a long wait.' Congress spokesperson Gyan Ranjan Gupta added that if the IYC could facilitate so many jobs, 'imagine how many lakhs of jobs we will provide in Bihar itself when we come to power'. Asked about the Congress claims, JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said, 'The amount of government employment provided in Bihar under Nitish ji's leadership is the reason why Bihar is ahead in the nation today in areas such as the student-to-teacher ratio and women's participation in the police force. The Congress, which now wants to bring 'Company Raj' here, should look at their own rule. When they were in power in Rajasthan, question papers were leaked 15 times.' Not surprisingly, not everyone went away happy from the Patna Maha Rojgar Mela. 'I rejected an offer of a Rs 20,000 sales job in Pune,' Patna resident Md Shabanul Haqe, 28, who did his MBA from Kolkata, says. 'After an expensive MBA, how can I manage in another city on this salary? Even non-graduates earn Rs 10,000-12,000 doing odd jobs.'
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Fresno shooting: Kuvar Kumar killed outside home; police say attack 'not random'
A 33-year-old man, identified as Kuvar Kumar, was shot and killed outside his home in northwest Fresno on the evening of Monday, 21 July. Fresno Police said officers were dispatched to the area of State Avenue and Acacia Avenue at around 6:52 pm following reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found Kumar unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds. Despite life-saving efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene. According to investigators, Kumar had just returned home when he was ambushed and fatally shot. Two people were reportedly inside the residence at the time of the attack, including Kumar's brother. Homicide detectives who responded to the scene say the presence of two distinct types of shell casings suggests there may have been more than one shooter. Police believe the act was targeted rather than random. The Fresno Police Department is actively canvassing the neighbourhood in search of witnesses or surveillance footage that may assist in identifying the suspects. No descriptions of the attackers have been released yet, and authorities have urged the public to come forward with any relevant information. 'This is an active investigation, and we are asking anyone who may have seen or heard anything to reach out,' said a spokesperson. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Is it legal? How to get Internet without paying a subscription? Techno Mag Learn More Tip-offs can be given anonymously via Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-STOP, or by contacting Homicide Detectives J. Baroni at (559) 621-2516 or M. Yee at (559) 621-2407. The killing of Kuvar Kumar marks Fresno's twelfth homicide of the year. His death has sparked renewed concern over rising violent crime in the city, especially in residential areas. Community members expressed grief over the sudden loss, with some taking to social media to demand justice and increased patrols.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘Give us back last 20 years': Son of Mumbai blasts accused, who died in jail 4 years before acquittal
Abdullah Ansari was six years old when his father, Kamal Ahmed Mohammad Vakil Ansari, was arrested from Basopatti in Bihar's Madhubani district after being accused of involvement in the Mumbai train blasts of July 11, 2006, in which 189 people were killed. 'I don't remember much… At that age, children just about know how to walk properly,' he told The Indian Express on Tuesday. On Monday, nearly two decades after his father's arrest, the Bombay High Court acquitted all 12 men convicted in the case. This included a posthumous acquittal for Kamal Ansari, who died in jail in 2021 at the age of 50. 'The only thing I want to say is, give us back the last 20 years… Only we know what we went through during these years,' said Abdullah, who last met his father in 2017. He said the High Court judgment came too late. 'What was meant to be wrapped up by the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) court in two-four years dragged on for much longer, and then it took another decade in the High Court. My father died in jail.' According to official records, Kamal Ansari died of Covid at Nagpur Central Jail in 2021, during the height of the pandemic. 'What happened was wrong, not just to my father but also to the others whose lives were destroyed by this process. Can anyone give back those 20 years to us, or to the 11 other families that also suffered?' Abdullah said. In July 2006, 189 people were killed and 824 injured in a series of blasts that ripped through seven Mumbai local train coaches. Kamal Ansari had been accused of receiving arms training in Pakistan, ferrying Pakistani terrorists across the Indo-Nepal border, and helping plant explosives that detonated at Matunga station in Mumbai. However, his son said Kamal was a worker trying to make ends meet by doing odd jobs in Madhubani and nearby areas. In 2015, a special MCOCA court sentenced Kamal Ansari and four others to death on charges of organised crime, criminal conspiracy, spreading terror and murder, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Explosives Substances Act, 1908, MCOCA, and Railways Act, 1989. After his father's arrest, Abdullah said that 'his mother and three brothers endured severe financial hardship'. The eldest among the siblings, Abdullah now works in a private company in Delhi, as does his brother Obedullah. Another brother, Abdul, works in Darbhanga, while the youngest, Sufian, is still studying.
