The other two children, Basavaraju and Indra Kumar, both aged 10, were saved by an onlooker, Superintendent of Police T Suresh told PTI. The deceased was identified as five-year-old Gagana.
As the Siddaruda Primary School was situated near a national highway, everyday after school hours the students were escorted by a teacher who helped them in crossing the road.
"While escorting the students today, the 25-year-old teacher Ramanna, according to eye-witnesses, first threw his mobile and pen into the well and then asked the three students to jump into the well and search for his belongings even as he followed them.
"Ramanna, who knows how to swim, came out while it was an onlooker who upon hearing the screams of the children, jumped into the well and could save only two of them", Suresh said.The teacher, who had been working with the school for the past one year, has been arrested."It is necessary to examine his mental state to investigate the case", Suresh said
