Class 10 boy held in Vadodara murder, wanted to take revenge on school: Police

Vadodara: A Class 10 student was held in the connection with the killing of a junior student in a school in Vadodara, a police official said on Saturday.

The body of the 14-year-old boy, a Class 9 student, was found with 10 stab wounds in the washroom of the school on Friday.

The 17-year-old accused, a student of the same Shree Bharati Vidyalaya located in Baranpora area, was held in Valsad town in South Gujarat late Friday night, Vadodara police Commissioner Manoj Sashidhar told news agency PTI.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the accused allegedly planned the murder to force the school to shut in revenge after he received a scolding from his teacher.

“The accused wanted to take revenge on the school and wanted it to shut down. He found the victim when he reached the school on Friday. The victim could have been any student,” Sashidhar said.

Earlier, the police had claimed that a scuffle between the two students resulted in the murder of the Class 9 student.

The accused student came under the lens after he was spotted in CCTV footage entering the washroom along with the victim.

Police officers said the Vadodara murder suspect is mentally tough and had shown no remorse for the murder, Hindustan Times report added.

The victim had joined the school only a week ago and was staying with his maternal uncle. His parents live in Gujarat’s Anand tow, police had said.

The gruesome murder was a chilling reminder of the murder of 7-year-old Pradyuman Thakur, who was found dead in a pool of blood, with his throat slit, in the washroom of Gurgaon's Ryan International school on September 8, 2017.

Gujarat Child and Women Welfare Board chairman, Jagruti Pandya, held meetings with officials of the district education department, the city police commissioner and others and sought a report over the incident.

Pandya said they will try to understand the psychological condition and emotional state of the accused before taking any decision on his future.

(With PTI inputs)