Three students of a private residential school in Tumakuru district died early on Thursday in what the police suspected is a case of food poisoning. They were refused admission by three private hospitals, and by the time they were taken to Tumakuru District Government Hospital, the standard VIII and X boys were declared brought dead.
Another student and a security guard, who had also consumed rice and sambar served at the hostel’s mess the previous night, are being treated at the hospital.
The school is run by a former BJP MLA and his wife, and according to the Deputy Director of Public Instruction, they did not have permit to run the hostel, which housed 29 boys.
On Wednesday around 9 p.m., Y. Shreyas (14), Akanksh Pallakki (16), and Shantha Murthy (16), who stayed in the boys hostel of Vidya Varidhi International School (CBSE) in Chikkanayakanahalli taluk of Tumakuru, arrived for dinner. They were the first to enter the dining hall, along with 16-year-old Sudarshan and the watchman, who survived as they had realised that the sambar “tasted wrong”.
By 9.30 p.m, the students and the watchman complained of stomach ache and started vomitting. They were immediately taken to a private clinic at Huliyar, but around 11.30 p.m. as their pulse rate started to drop, the doctor asked them to go a bigger hospital in Tumakuru.
A teacher and hostel attendant accompanied the children in a private ambulance to Tumakuru, but the first three private hospitals they approached refused to admit them, said a police officer.
“Finally, they were taken to the Tumakuru District Government Hospital where they were declared brought dead around 4 a.m. on Thursday,” they said.
“It appears to be food poisoning but nothing can be said till we get the chemical and biological analysis report,” said Superintendent of Police Esha Pant. A case under Section 304 A (causing death by negligence) has been registered. The police have arrested head cook Shivanna, assistant cook Rangalakshmi, mess in-charge Suhas, and attendant Jagadish.
