Blade allegedly found in school feeding bread in Panchagarh's Debiganj, inquiry committee being formed

A sharp blade has allegedly been found inside a loaf of bread distributed under the school feeding programme in Debiganj upazila of Panchagarh. The blade was found on Thursday (5 November) at noon in bread given to a pupil of the 116 No. Pradhanabad Government Primary School in Dandapal Union of the upazila, according to school and local sources.

According to the school and local sources, after the first shift ended on Thursday noon, Mim Akter, a pupil of the child class, took her school feeding bread home. While eating it later, she found a blade inside.

When she told her family members, they took the bread to the school. Assistant teacher Barun Roy then collected the bread, took it to the Debiganj Upazila Primary Education Office and deposited it there.

Barun Roy said Mim Akter's guardians came to the school with the complaint that a blade had been found in the bread. When the upazila primary education officer was informed, he asked for the bread to be brought to the education office. He also confirmed that nothing of this kind was found in the packets of other pupils.

Debiganj Upazila Primary Education Officer Azmal Hossain, confirming the incident, said that after receiving the news the bread was collected and sent to the upazila nirbahi officer.

Debiganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer Indrajit Saha said, 'A complaint has been received in this incident. An inquiry committee is being formed on the basis of the complaint. Necessary action will be taken after receiving the inquiry report.'

How the blade got inside the bread is not yet known in detail. As the news spread in the area, concern has grown among guardians about the quality and safety of school feeding food.

Earlier, on 23 July, a similar allegation was raised at Harisena Government Primary School in Gournadi municipality, where a blade was allegedly found in bread supplied under school feeding. A teacher of that school was temporarily suspended at the time on the allegation of spreading the incident on social media without verifying the information.

An inquiry committee was formed in that case, and its convener, Gournadi upazila agriculture officer Sekendar Sheikh, submitted the inquiry report to the upazila nirbahi officer on 30 July. The report said no negligence was found at the institution that supplied the bread, and no evidence was found that a blade had entered the bread there.

The inquiry also examined the side of the pupils, teachers and guardians. At one stage the pupil concerned admitted that the blade had been in her bag; since bringing a blade to school was prohibited, she had taken it out of her bag and hidden it inside the bread herself to avoid being scolded by her teacher.