Principal murder: Police do not rule out revenge for 'sex abuse'

BADDI: Police have not ruled out revenge as the motive behind the murder of Shivalik Science School principal Bhagat Ram Saini at his school-cum-residence at Kharuni village in Baddi town of Solan district on August 13 morning, suspecting the charges of sexual abuse against him by a few girl students earlier this year could have a role in the grisly killing.

"We are probing all angles and have not ruled out revenge by supporters of girls who had accused the principal of sexual abuse. Various teams are investigating the case," said Baddi SP Rani Bindu Sachdeva.

Bhagat Ram was accused of sexual harassment by girls during a study tour in Odisha, but police investigations had found the allegations false. Sources in Baddi police said Saini in his statement to the police had alleged that he had found girls in a compromising position with boys and he allegedly thrashed them. Later after returning to Baddi, the girls had made the allegations against him. Subsequently, the police had launched an investigation. Three girls had come forward and claimed the principal had tried to molest some of them. The SP said the allegations could not be proved as the complainants failed to prove their point.

While Saini, was found brutally murdered, unidentified assailants had slit the throat of his wife, Navjot Saini (49). She is battling for her life at PGI, Chandigarh. Their mentally unstable son, Gaurav Saini (26) was tied up in his bedroom before the attack.

According to police, around five to six persons were caught on CCTV cameras riding motorcycles on the Baddi-Nalagarh national highway. Three out of them - all of them strongly built - entered the school premises at 2.39 am and came out at 5.07 am. Sachdeva said the identity of the criminals could not be ascertained owing to poor quality of the footage.

Police sources said the assailants had made a recce of the school before committing the crime. They used gas cutters to open the locks of the two main doors to enter the school-cum-residence of the principal.