Hazaribag: A student of Class III drowned in a pond located on the premises of his Jabra Road-based private school in Hazaribag district on Wednesday evening, police said.The deceased was identified as Arpit Kumar Singh (7), a hosteller and resident of Kandsar village in Katkamsandi block of Hazaribag.Arpit was playing with a ball, which fell into the water body. Arpit followed and slipped while trying to retrieve it. Other students, who were present at the site, raised an alarm. The boy was pulled out of the pond and rushed to a hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead.Blaming the school authorities for negligence, father of the deceased, Kamlesh Kumar Singh, said, “The presence of a pond on the school campus is a security lapse.”Refuting the allegation, school director Ajit Kumar said, “The boy was playing when his ball went towards the pond. He crossed the wall to retrieve it and slipped.”Officer in-charge of the Korra police station Nemdhari Rajak said, “No formal complaint has been lodged.”
