Hyderabad:
In a small school in Andhra Pradesh's Khammam district, 450 children could barely believe their luck. In a sort of Show and Tell, a group of policemen were visiting their school to share what their jobs entail.
The policemen's field trip was just a small part of a massive PR exercise across the state to help people learn more about- and respect- the Andhra Police Force, ahead of its annual commemoration day.
The policemen brought weapons with them to the school as part of their introduction. The weapons, naturally, were not meant to be loaded.
And then, a constable named Srinivas offered to show the children how he loads his weapon.
"He said I will show you how it is fired and that's when five of us got hit," says Kishore, a class VII student whose right leg has suffered a bullet injury.
Two young boys - one from Class 8, another in Class 10-were killed.
The state police chief says it was sheer negligence and misplaced enthusiasm that caused the accident.
The constable has been suspended, arrested and charged with causing death due to negligence.
The police says it may, in the future, avoid other such displays of weapon around civilians, especially children.
In a village nearby, that doesn't placate anybody. A group of angry residents marched in the streets with the dead body of Venkatakrishna, the Class 10 student who was killed.
The Andhra Police has announced compensation of four lakh rupees for the families of the children who died. Their family members will also be offered jobs as home guards.
The district collector announced ex-gratia of 25000 rupees to the family of each child who died.