Jammu: Villagers lock down government school after teacher found drunk

JAMMU : The residents of a village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda locked down a government primary school after a teacher was found in an inebriated condition during working hours. A video of the incident that happened in Chanti village on Saturday surfaced on social media, prompting authorities to initiate an inquiry against the accused.

According to the villagers, the accused teacher Bikram Singh had asked some students to get a glass for him to have alcohol inside the school. Singh, in an inebriated condition, created a ruckus on being confronted by the villagers, village head Gajoth Panchayat Devinder Kotwal said. A few more bottles of alcohol were recovered from the teacher, he said. Kotwal said the teacher has done this several times in the past and has also been warned by the education department. "The teacher is an alcoholic and needs to be dealt with sternly to safeguard the future of the students,” Kotwal said.

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Additional Deputy Commissioner, Bhaderwah, Dilmir Chowdhary said being drunk and carrying liquor at a workplace is against the ideal behaviour of a government official, especially for a teacher. Police have taken cognizance of the matter after receiving a written complaint from the villagers.

"We have received a complaint about the matter and action under the rule will follow," ASP Bhadarwah Kameshwar Puri said. “If this has been done by a teacher, as is evident from the video on social media, we will investigate and take strict action against him," Chowdhary said. According to the officials, an inquiry has been ordered into the incident.