Calcutta, Jan. 28: Mid-day meals for schoolchildren, which have been mired in controversy, claimed a victim today.

The Cooch Behar inspector of primary schools, Achintya Mukherjee, was suspended for allegedly selling rice meant for the meals to the market.

School education minister Kanti Biswas said: ?We have suspended the DI (district inspector of schools) on the basis of specific charges. We conducted a probe following allegations that the rice meant for primary students was making its way to the market instead of schools. Preliminary investigation has revealed the inspector?s involvement.??

Biswas added that Mukherjee has been given a couple of days to present his defence. ?If we do not get a satisfactory reply, we will dismiss him from service,?? he added.

?We have received allegations from different areas. Many schools are not getting the rice, which is being sold in markets. We are probing the charges. No one will be spared. Selling rice for mid-day meals is a crime and we will give exemplary punishment to the criminals,?? said Biswas.

Allegations have poured in from several other districts. In many of the instances, local CPM leaders were accused of conniving with ration dealers. At Ausgram in Burdwan, residents ransacked a party office and a ration dealer committed suicide in its wake.

As part of a central scheme, students up to Class V are to be provided meals. The inspector of schools is responsible for the distribution of the rice.

The allegations against Mukherjee came to the fore after Hiten Nag, the managing committee secretary of Dinhata High School, said on September 14 that the school had not received any rice meant for mid-day meals for the past three years.