8 hurt as parents clash with school authorities

VAPI: Eight persons, including two children and policemen, were injured when protests by parents of tribal students against Swaminarayan Gurukul boarding school turned violent in Malanpada village of Dharampur taluka in Valsad district. The parents were alleging foul play in the death of a class XI student on December 7. The student, Aniket Gawli, had left the gurukul without permission on December 7 and his body was found on railway track near Valsad station the next day.Police had declared his death as suicide.
Close to 700 parents from Dharampur and Kaprada first took out a rally outside the gurukul and later barged into the campus despite the police presence. They allegedly smashed computers, furniture and cars and later attacked the school's trustee Swami Gyanswaroopdas.
In the clashes, two students, one of them studying in play group was also injured along with a lady constable who suffered head injuries. Senior administration officer Bharati Patel was also injured in the row.
The protestors, school authorities said, also resorted to stone pelting on the campus.
Valsad superintendent of police Nipurna Towarne said, "The school administration is not ready to file a complaint, but we are going to lodge a complaint."
Later, the agitating parents submitted a memorandum to mamlatdar.