Schoolboy's death: 3 officials suspended, 51 booked over protest call

Three transport department officials were suspended on Friday on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's direction, two days after a 10-year-old boy was killed while peeping out a window of his school bus.

Police on Friday lodged an FIR against 51 people for allegedly giving a call on social media platforms for a protest ''with sticks'' outside a police station ''for justice to the deceased''.

''Lokendra Arya, a local, gave the call for protest on Thursday. It is an act of inciting violence. An FIR has been lodged under relevant sections of IPC and the IT Act in the matter,'' Superintendent of Police (Rural) Iraj Raja said.

A video in which a woman district official is seen scolding and wagging a finger at the wailing mother of the child telling her to shut up has gone viral on social media.

The video is reportedly of Thursday when the family members of the deceased blocked the Delhi-Meerut highway accusing the police of conniving with school officials in the case.

The officer, identified as Sub Divisional Magistrate Shubhangi Shukla is seen losing her temper with the mother sitting on the road. Senior administrative officials could not be reached to comment on the video.

Meanwhile, Ghaziabad Assistant Regional Transport Officers (ARTOs) Satish Kumar and Vishwa Pratap Singh and Reserve Inspector Prem Singh were suspended on Friday.

ARTO (Administration) Vishwajit Singh has confirmed the development.

The student of a private school in Modi Nagar was killed after his head hit an electricity pole allegedly while peeping out of the bus on Wednesday.

The family members of the deceased have filed a case of negligence against the school administration.

Sources said the school bus was carrying more students than its capacity. The mandatory fitness certificate of the bus issued by the transport department expired last year, they said.

Chief Minister Adityanath took cognisance of the role of officials of the road transport department in Ghaziabad and expressed displeasure over their working style, sources said.

In a meeting on Thursday, the chief minister directed officials to fix the responsibility of the staffers of the transport department and punish those responsible, they said. Angry over the death of the boy, his family members staged a two-hour-long protest on the Delhi-Meerut road on Thursday. SP Iraj Raja said one side of the Delhi-Meerut highway was blocked for some time due to the protest. However, the road was cleared after the protesters were assured of action in the case, the police officer said.