BIJNOR: A teacher of a

in UP’s

district and his aide were on Wednesday arrested for allegedly slitting the throat of a Class IV student in his sleep to “settle score” from the principal of the seminary, even as the child was still fighting for his life at medical college hospital in

.

After slitting the 10-year-old child’s throat, the accused had also stabbed him in the stomach leaving him seriously injured in the wee hours of Tuesday.

According to police, Mohammad Hasnain, the main accused, was holding a grudge against Rahid Khan, the principal of the seminary. “To settle score, Hasnain attacked Adnan, who is the nephew of the principal,” a police officer said. The other accused, Mohammad Uwais, is a senior student in the seminary, police said, adding that both the accused belonged to Saharanpur district and knew each other.

“There were 17 students in the hall when the attack took place. All of them were sleeping. The accused entered the room clandestinely and slit the student’s throat and stabbed him. The attackers fled after a student woke up to the pandemonium and started shouting for help,” a police officer had said. Hearing the screams, the other madrassa staffers woke up and rushed to the hall. Principal of the seminary took the child to a nearby community health centre (CHC), from where he was referred to medical college in Meerut in a serious condition.

A police team had detained both the accused for questioning on Tuesday.

Amroha’s superintendent of police (SP) Vipin Tada said, “Police took the custody of both the accused and questioned them for hours. They broke down and confessed to the crime. Hasnain told police that he was scolded by the principal and didn’t like him. Uwais also held a grudge against the principal. Both the accused were from same place and knew each other. To take revenge, they joined hands and decided to kill Adnan.”

“Police have sent them to jail after naming them in the case,” he said.

Meanwhile, due to excessive blood loss, the condition of the child remained critical for the second day running, a hospital source said.