Bihar midday meal tragedy: Principal's custody extended to 19 Aug

The principal of the government school at Chhapra in Bihar where, 23 students had died after eating poisonous mid-day meal, was on Wednesday remanded in jail custody for 14 more days. Chhapra Chief Judicial Magistrate Arun Kumar Jha extended the judicial custody of Meena Devi by 14 days till August 19 in the midday meal tragedy that took place last month. The same court had on July 25 sent her to judicial custody till August 5. The principal of Dharmasati Gandaman primary school had gone into hiding after the incident and was arrested nearly 10 days after the incident. An FIR was registered with Mashrakh police station against her under section 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) in the midday meal incident on 16 July. [caption id=“attachment_1018503” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of the children who feel sick after consuming the poisonous meal in the school. AP[/caption] Her husband Arjun Rai, who has been accused of purchasing the poisonous pesticide which got mixed in the midday meal served to the children, is still absconding. Meena Devi was last week subjected to polygraph test by an expert team from Central Forensic Science Laboratory of Delhi to verify her statement over the incident. Arjun Rai had recently sought an anticipatory bail from a Chhapra court, which in turn sought the case diary from the police. PTI