The accused allegedly conspired to frame the school’s Muslim headmaster and have him transferred from the village for communal reasons.
Published Aug 03, 2025 | 4:49 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 03, 2025 | 4:51 PM
Belagavi police began investigating after Headmaster Suleman Gorenayak, who has served at the school for the past decade, filed a complaint.
Synopsis: Police in Karnataka’s Belagavi district have arrested three people, including a Sri Rama Sene leader, for allegedly poisoning the drinking water at the Hoolikatti village government school in an attempt to frame its Muslim headmaster. The incident came to light on 14 July, when 11 students were admitted to hospital with vomiting and stomach pain.
Police in Karnataka’s Belagavi district have arrested three people for allegedly poisoning the drinking water at a government school in Hoolikatti village.
The accused include Sagar Patil, president of the Savadatti taluk unit of the Sri Rama Sene, the Hindutva militant group infamous for acts of violence and moral policing, along with Krishna Madar and Naganagouda Patil. All three are residents of the village.
The incident first came to light on 14 July, when 11 students at the government primary school were hospitalised after consuming water from a tank on the premises. They complained of vomiting and stomach ache and were treated immediately.
Belagavi police began investigating after Headmaster Suleman Gorenayak, who has served at the school for the past decade, filed a complaint. According to police, the accused allegedly conspired to frame the school’s Muslim headmaster and have him transferred from the village for communal reasons.
Belagavi Superintendent of Police Bhimashankar Guled, speaking to the media on Saturday, said that one of the accused, Krishna Madar, gave a student chocolates and ₹500 to pour a bottle containing pesticides into the water tank and return it to him. However, the student, frightened, left the bottle at the site after emptying it.
Most of the 41 students at the school noticed a foul smell and avoided drinking the water from the tank, but 11 children did and were hospitalised immediately. Police said they are out of danger and no fatalities have been reported.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condemned the incident on Sunday, 3 August, calling it a “grave threat to communal harmony.”
“All forms of fanaticism and fundamentalism are dangerous to human society,” he wrote in a post on X.
ಬೆಳಗಾವಿ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಸವದತ್ತಿ ತಾಲೂಕಿನ ಹೂಲಿಕಟ್ಟಿ ಗ್ರಾಮದ ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಶಾಲೆಯ ಮುಖ್ಯೋಪಾಧ್ಯಾಯರು ಮುಸ್ಲಿಂ ಸಮುದಾಯಕ್ಕೆ ಸೇರಿದವರು, ಅವರನ್ನು ತಮ್ಮ ಊರಿನಿಂದ ಬೇರೆಡೆಗೆ ವರ್ಗಾವಣೆ ಮಾಡಿಸಬೇಕೆಂಬ ದುರುದ್ದೇಶದಿಂದ ಶಾಲಾಮಕ್ಕಳ ಕುಡಿಯುವ ನೀರಿಗೆ ವಿಷ ಹಾಕಿದ ಶ್ರೀರಾಮ ಸೇನೆಯ ತಾಲೂಕು ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷ ಸಾಗರ ಪಾಟೀಲ ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ ಒಟ್ಟು ಮೂವರನ್ನು…
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) August 3, 2025
“To curb hate speeches and communal riots, we have formed a special task force, and we are taking all possible legal measures against such elements. For all our efforts to bear fruit, the public must also raise their voices against such forces, resist them, and file complaints.”
The Chief Minister also congratulated police for foiling the alleged plot to harm children.
“I have full confidence that the judicial system will deliver appropriate punishment to the culprits who committed such a heinous act,” he said.
