Karnataka govt school water tank poisoned in 'plot to oust Muslim headmaster'

Authorities in Karnataka’s Belagavi district have arrested three people in connection with the deliberate poisoning of a government school’s drinking water tank, an act police allege was intended to drive out the institution’s Muslim headmaster.

The incident, which occurred on July 14 at the Government Lower Primary School in Hulikatti, left 12 students unwell after consuming contaminated water. According to health officials, quoted by NDTV, the symptoms were not life-threatening, but they triggered immediate concern among school authorities and parents. The affected children received prompt medical treatment and have since fully recovered.

According to police accounts reported by NDTV, the scheme was engineered to sow distrust and force Headmaster Suleman Gorinaik from his post, which he has held for 13 years. Investigators traced the poisoning to a fifth-grade boy, who revealed he acted under instruction after being handed a bottle by local resident Krishna Madar.

It emerged Madar acted under pressure himself. Police found that Sagar Patil, the taluk-level president of right-wing group Sri Ram Sene, and Naganagouda Patil had allegedly blackmailed him, threatening to reveal his inter-caste relationship unless he complied with the sabotage. NDTV, citing police sources, highlighted that Sagar Patil confessed that his motive stemmed from disliking a Muslim occupying the school’s headmaster post.

All three men, including Patil, Naganagouda Patil and Krishna Madar, have now been taken into custody.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah slammed the act, describing it as “heinous” and fuelled by “religious hatred and fundamentalism.” In remarks referenced by NDTV, he noted, “The headmaster of the government school in Hulikatti village, Savadatti taluk, Belagavi district, belongs to the Muslim community. With the malicious intent of having him transferred elsewhere, Sagar Patil, the taluk president of Shriram Sena, along with two others, has been arrested for poisoning the drinking water of school children.”

He further cautioned, “Religious fundamentalism and communal hatred can lead to heinous acts and this incident, which could have resulted in the massacre of innocent children, is a testament to that.”