A group of violent ‘outsiders’ severely beat up and abused male and female teachers inside the Balarampur Manmathanath Vidyamandir in the Narendrapur police station area in South 24-Parganas district on Saturday afternoon. The incident spread panic among students and employees of the school. Police rushed to the spot to rescue the teachers though no arrests were made so far in connection with the incident.

Teachers, who were assaulted, alleged that the headmaster Syed Md Imtiaz of the school was instrumental behind the attack on the former. Trouble started in the afternoon when a group of around 30 ‘outsiders’ suddenly entered the school premises and rushed to the teachers’ room. The violent youths targeted some male and female teachers and snatched their mobile phones first. They kicked and beat up the teachers using slang words and the attack continued for about half an hour. Some of the injured were taken to local hospitals, locals alleged. “Our headmaster was instrumental behind the attack on us because he engaged outsiders to attack us. We were protesting against his corrupt practices.

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Even court cases are pending on his corrupt practices. He has been threatening us regularly so that we withdraw the case against him,” alleged Sibnath Chatterjee, an assistant teacher of science in the school. “I was teaching physics to Class IX when the commotion started. I rushed to the teachers’ room and found some of my colleagues shouting in panic. They were being beaten up. They also started attacking me physically.

They snatched mobile phones from us and threw them outside the room,” Mr Chatterjee said. Denying the allegations brought against him, Mr Imtiaz, said, “The allegations are false and baseless. Some teachers are conspiring against me as I regularly keep a watch on their dereliction of duties in school hours. I was trying to streamline these errant teachers, who do not attend classes and ignore their duties towards students.” While reacting to the incident the state education minister Bratya Basu told reporters this evening, “We are collecting detailed information and an inquiry will be conducted. No one who attacked the teachers will be spared.”