NEW DELHI - Nine days after she disappeared, the principal of a school in eastern India where 23 children died after eating a lunch tainted with pesticide was arrested Wednesday.
The principal, Meena Kumari, had been on her way to surrender before a judge in Chapra when she was detained by police, the district police chief, Sujeet Kumar, said.
Kumari was among themost wanted people in India after she fled her school in the village of Dharmasati Gandawa in Bihar’s Saran district when the children in her school started throwing up soon after eating a free lunch. Forensic tests have confirmed that the cooking oil used to prepare the meal of rice, beans, potato curry and soy balls was contaminated with pesticide. Kumari bought the cooking oil from a store owned by her husband.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 07/25/2013