Bilaspur: A 10-year-old girl was injured in a sodium blast at a private school in Bilaspur's Civil Line area on Friday. The Chhattisgarh Police have detained four students in connection with the incident, and they were presented in Juvenile Court on Monday. The court ordered the students' transfer to a juvenile home.
According to Civil Line Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Nimitesh Singh, a case has been registered based on the blast in the school's bathroom, and the investigation is ongoing. The forensic team has collected samples from the scene, and the report is still awaited.
Singh said the preliminary investigations led to the detention of four Class 8 students. A fifth student, who had gone to meet relatives, is yet to be nabbed.
The incident occurred at approximately 10 am during an examination at the school. When the staff teacher reached the bathroom, they found a Class 4 student badly burned from the explosion. She was immediately taken to the hospital. The investigation revealed the blast was caused by sodium, which reacted with water, Singh added.
Through CCTV footage analysis, the police identified five students involved in the prank, with four detained on February 23. The four detained students- three girls and one boy- were sent to juvenile detention following their appearance in a juvenile court.
Bilaspur SP Rajnesh Singh revealed that the students allegedly planned the explosion to target a female teacher they were upset with. "They had watched a video explaining how sodium reacts explosively with water. One student purchased sodium metal online using a relative's ID and placed it in the toilet's tank outlet. When water was added, the sodium triggered the blast, injuring the young girl," the senior police official said.
"The sodium used in the blast was not sourced from the school lab but ordered online from Patna in Bihar. The school principal filed the initial complaint, prompting the police investigation," Singh said.
