Three students died of suspected food poisoning at a private residential school in the district early today, police said. The children studying at Vidhyavaridhi International Boarding school in Huliyaru took ill after ingesting food served for dinner yesterday and were taken to government hospital, where they were declared brought dead, they said. Tumakuru Deputy Commissioner Mohan Raj said the children were taken to a private doctor and on his advice they were rushed to the district hospital, but died on the way. Two of them were aged 15 and 14. The school run by former MLA Kiram Kumar told reporters here that he suspected "foul play" and the matter should be probed. Kumar claimed that the food served to the affected children was taken to his home which his family members ate. The children who consumed it later were affected and "something has happened in between.. foul play.. It should be probed." A case under Section 304 of IPC (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) had been registered, the District Superintendent of Police Isha Pant said adding, "Whosoever is responsible will be punished." Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his tweet said that he has directed district authorities to conduct a swift investigation to determine the cause of death and take action against those responsible.
