The city police on Friday arrested Sheela Rajendran, 51, dean of the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan school in K.K. Nagar, in connection with the death of a student in the swimming pool on the school premises on Thursday. She was released on bail in the evening.
The police had already arrested five others, including the physical training teacher, in connection with the case.
“We have arrested the dean under section 304 (A) (causing death by negligence which is a bailable section). The other five arrested on Thursday were also detained under the same section,” the police said here.
The police on Friday sealed the swimming pool in which 9-year-old Ranjan, son of film director N.R.N. Manohar, drowned during a swimming class session.
“We are reviewing safety measures in all swimming pools in the school and other private places,” the police said.
Amidst mounting criticism that the police were dealing with the case very lightly and that they had used only a minor section against the school management, a senior police official on Friday said they were waiting for the complete post-mortem report to take further action.
Many feel that the police could have registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which comes under non-bailable offences.
“We will take action against those who were responsible for the death of the boy.”
Ranjan’s family on Friday told this newspaper that the doctors who conducted the post-mortem had indicated that the boy had died due to drowning.
“They said Ranjan died after water entered his airways,” a member of Ranjan’s family said.
The school, which functioned on Thursday, remained closed on Friday.