Muzaffarpur, May 11: At least a dozen Class IX students of a government school here were today roughed up and severely assaulted, allegedly on the instructions of the principal, after they demanded cash for bicycles that are given under a pet scheme of chief minister Nitish Kumar.

The Mukhyamantri Cycle Yojana has been touted as one of the most successful schemes launched by the NDA government. But the assault on students of the Muzaffarpur Dwarika Nath High School is an indication that the government has to monitor delivery of the scheme.

School principal Tripurari Sharan Mishra allegedly used the services of his peons to thrash the students who had gathered in his office chamber around 12 noon to demand the benefits.

In spite of repeated attempts, Mishra could not be reached for comment.

Arvind Prasad, the father of one of the students, claimed that when he reached the school after learning of the assault, he saw the principal and two peons holding sticks and rods in their hands and assaulting the boys. “When I protested, the principal and the peons left the spot in a huff,” he said.

The peons, according to the students, thrashed them mercilessly. At least three of the boys suffered grievous injuries. The three — Manitosh Kumar, Prabhakar and Ranjit — were admitted in a nursing home by their parents.

Enraged schoolmates of the injured boys went on the rampage on the institution’s premises, damaging furniture. “Despite receiving the funds, the principal is not disbursing the benefits to the students,” said Manoj Kumar, a student. He added that around 90 students of Class IX had been denied cycle funds due to the “apathy” of the principal.

The parents said they would lodge a formal police complaint against the principal tomorrow.

Muzaffarpur district magistrate (DM) Santosh Kumar Mall has asked the district education officer to probe the matter. “Action would be taken on the basis of the inquiry report,” he added.

District education officer R.N. Pandey said the demand of the students were genuine and that he had asked the principal to provide them account payee cheques for purchasing cycles.

The scheme was launched in 2006-07. To begin with, only girl students of government schools were entitled to the benefits, irrespective of their caste and economic background. The scheme was extended to boy students from 2009-10.