The incident took place in Ferozabad's Rajwali area under Narkhi police station. (Representational)
A Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU- Bhanu group) leader along with his men have been charged for allegedly driving into a private primary school in a convoy of 15 SUVs, firing shots and vandalising property while nearly 300 students were in the premises.
The incident took place at a school in Ferozabad's Rajwali area under Narkhi police station on Saturday.
The school owner Jabbar Singh, in his first information report, has named farmer leaders- Bhanu Pratap Singh, Ram Pratap Tikait, Harsh Brijwasi, Gaurav Pratap Singh and 15 other unidentified armed men for allegedly barging into the school and attacking it in the afternoon.
The farmer leader and his men have been charged under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Jabbar Singh, 56, told reporters, "On Saturday afternoon, a cavalcade of 15 SUVs led by BKU leader Bhanu Pratap Singh and his men came to our school from Awagadh. The men were armed with pistols, revolvers, guns, clubs and iron rods. When I inquired about the purpose of their visit, they turned violent without provocation. They fired multiple shots in the air. Neither I nor any family member had any enmity with Bhanu Pratap Singh or his men. But for no reason, the men vandalized our school property and fired bullets in front of the students. We asked the teachers to immediately lock the classrooms. A few teachers and some students broke down on seeing the violent behaviour of the men."
Jabbar Singh further alleged that when the men were vandalizing the school property, local police did nothing.
"It was my school bus staff who intervened and snatched a couple of weapons including a licensed pistol and a double barrel gun, from the men before they fled," said the school owner.
Sources said that Jabbar Singh and his son had allegedly reprimanded a heavily drunk man known to the farmers union leader.
Brijesh Kumar Singh, Station House Officer of Narkhi, said, "An FIR has been lodged. We are probing the matter to understand the sequence of events. A team is searching for the farmer leader and his men."
Last year in February, the BKU (Bhanu group) leader, armed with rifles and lathis, had broken the toll boom of Agra-Lucknow expressway and allegedly threatened employees.