3 min readAhmedabadFeb 4, 2026 07:40 AM IST
DAYS AFTER a Class VI student of a private school in the Maninagar area of Ahmedabad allegedly put naphthalene balls in a classmate’s water bottle, the state education department has ordered a probe even as the District Education Officer (DEO), Ahmedabad (city), has reprimanded the school management and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Tuesday.
The alleged incident happened on January 28, during a break between classes. The other student tried to drink the water but sensed an unusual odour. Purported CCTV footage of the incident surfaced online on Tuesday.
“School authorities took the student to a hospital as a precautionary measure. Since he was fine, he came to school the next day. While the DEO has sought an explanation from the school, we have also initiated an inquiry and sought a report,” State Education Minister Pradyuman Vaja told mediapersons in Gandhinagar on Tuesday.
In a statement, the principal said, “We called both the students and their parents to the school. The student admitted that he put the chemical balls into his classmate’s water bottle. The father of the student who put the ball said that he is involved in the kite business, so it is possible that the child brought some chemical balls from home. The student has been sent on leave.”
School authorities also indicated that the incident was possibly the fallout of an earlier argument between both the students. The school has now started checking bags of the students.
Ahmedabad (city) District Education Officer Rohit Chaudhary issued two showcause notices to the management of the school reprimanding them and imposing a fine of Rs 10,000 for administrative lapses.
Also, strict guidelines have been issued to all schools in the city to check the school bags of students periodically and regularly to prevent such fatal incidents in the future.
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“From time to time, circulars and instructions have been issued by the head office and the DEO office regarding the health of the students. However, today, we have not received any information from the school regarding the incident that took place on Wednesday, 28/01/2026 but came to know through social media, which is a very serious matter. It seems that you have tried to hide this fact. Therefore, you are requested to send a detailed explanation of the incident that took place in your school as well as the CCTV footage of the day of the incident to this office today itself,” one of the showcause notices stated.
In the second, the Ahmedabad City District Education Officer has imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 stating, “The incident in your school on January 28 shows lapses on your part as you did not inform the office. For violation of Section 19 of the RTE Act 2009 your school is penalised with Rs 10,000. This has to be paid within two days.”
