Collector invokes statute, sacks headmaster

NABARANGPUR: In a rare case, Nabarangpur District Collector Roopa Mishra on Friday invoked Article 311(2)b of the Constitution and sacked the jailed headmaster, accused of sexual exploitation of girls in a Sevashram School. This comes a day after the Crime Branch began its probe here. Pradipta Kumar Sahu, headmaster of Sevashram School at Bada Aambda under Kosagumunda block of the district run by the ST and SC Development Department, allegedly exploited the tribal girl students and one of them became pregnant. As it came to light recently, a rattled State Government ordered a CB inquiry. Exercising this discretionary power before the probe is a rarity. On March 2, the allegation was made before the Collector. The administration rushed a squad to the school. One of the four abused girls was found pregnant during medical examination. Sahu was suspended and arrested while three others __ a temporary teacher and two cooks __ were disengaged. In her order, which was served to Sahu in jail here on Friday, Mishra charged that the headmaster, by way of taking advantage of his official position, has committed a heinous act on minor girls who were under his care and custody. The departmental proceeding usually takes time and there is every possibility of the accused intimidating the victim girls and their families, the order said. The Collector, while taking the action, relied on a Supreme Court judgment. Meanwhile, the Crime Branch team, led by a DSP, arrived here on Thursday and has started the probe.