Bidar sedition case: Police intensify quizzing students at school

A police team led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police has intensified the probe into a controversial play enacted during the annual day function of Shaheen primary school in the city.

The police had booked a sedition case against the management and the staff of the school. In the play staged on January 26, children had reportedly demeaned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Citizenship Amendment Act.

"As part of the probe, the police visited Shaheen School on Tuesday in civil dress after their interrogation of children in uniform drew criticism from the various quarters," said a school staff.

On Tuesday morning, three policemen came to the school along with two members of the Karnataka State Child Rights Protection Commission. DySP H Basaveshwara joined the team later, the official told DH.

The police had quizzed the students and the staff of the school on Monday also.

"They have been questioning as to who wrote the script of the drama and who trained the children to deliver the controversial dialogues," school sources said.

However, the police remained tightlipped over the probe. The police, on January 30, arrested Fareeda Begum, headmistress of the school who oversaw the event, and Najamunissa, the mother of one of the students.

In Bengaluru, former minister U T Khader flayed the state and union governments for filing sedition cases over the episode. He said the governments were trying to suppress the voice of the people of the country using law enforcement agencies.

“An IAS officer should be appointed to objectively probe this. If something is found, then the police can continue the investigation,” Khader said.