Bhubaneswar, April 29: They were so fond of their former headmaster that they preferred to cut the locks of the new headmistress, who arrived to take charge of the Kanyashram, and then fled.

Today, the 44 “missing” students of Daringibadi Kanyashram in Kondhmal district, where some students assaulted their new headmistress, were handed over to their worried parents.

After the assault, a battery of events that followed forced the district collector to close down the Kanyashram on Thursday, after which the 44 students went missing.

Police, who had launched a massive search for the girls, finally located them inside Kutimaha forest, some 30 km away from the town, yesterday evening.

On Tuesday morning, Hemlata Mishra, on the direction of the district collector, reached the Kanyashram to join as the new headmistress. The unsuspecting Hemlata was intercepted by some students at the gate from where she was dragged to the hostel.

She was reportedly tied up to a post after which the girls poured kerosene over her and spat at her. Finally, they cut her locks and let her go with a warning that she should “never come back”. They affirmed that they were happy with Debraj Sahoo (30), the former headmaster .

Surprisingly, Sahoo, who was present at the spot, remained a mute spectator of the event. Hemlata, thereafter, rushed to the nearest police station where she lodged a complaint against the girls. As the news spread, irate locals and students of the nearby boys’ high school (where Hemlata taught earlier) joined to demand action against the girls and the headmaster.

“We rushed to the Kanyashram premises along with the local tehsildar and sub-collector but the girls did not let us in. They kept Sahoo locked inside the kanyashram lest he would be attacked by any of the irate locals,” said inspector P.C. Pradhan of Daringibadi police station. When the crowd finally dispersed the police stayed back to keep a strict vigil.

However, on Wednesday morning Sahoo was found absconding. The police also found objectionable materials from Sahoo’s room.

“We found pornographic CDs, condoms and magazines from his room,” said the inspector.

As the matter was heading for the worse, the district administration on Thursday decided to close down the kanyashram and accordingly informed the parents. On Thursday evening 44 girls who left the kanyashram on the pretext of shopping never returned, leading the parents to gheraoe the tehsildar.

“We are clueless on why the students did what they did. The students have refused to talk to us,” said the inspector.

“We have ordered an inquiry into the incident and would resume classes after the situation returns to normalcy,” said Kondhmal collector Gangadhar Singh.