Patna/Chhapra, July 25: A polygraph test would be conducted on the Gandaman Primary School principal, Meena Devi, to unravel the mystery behind the death of 23 children after eating midday meal on July 16.

Chief judicial magistrate (Saran) Anil Kumar Jha today granted permission to the investigating officer of the case, sub-inspector Raj Kaushal of Masrakh police station, to take Meena on remand for conducting the polygraph test on her in the state Forensic Science Laboratory in Patna. The order came soon after she was produced before the court around 4pm.

The court later remanded her in judicial custody for 14 days. She was subsequently lodged in the Chhapra divisional jail.

A big crowd had assembled on the court premises when she was brought there under tight security. Female cops escorted her to the courtroom.

Meena was arrested from Chhapra town on Wednesday when she was on her way to surrender before the court. During interrogation, she revealed that she had not tasted the midday meal before it was served to the students on July 16. “I never tasted the meal earlier also despite it being mandatory for the headmistresses of the schools, but nothing of this sort ever happened. I never received any complaint about the quality of the food served to the students,” she said.

She told the interrogators that two cooks hired by the school cooked the spurious meal. The ingredients were brought from her house, about 200m away from the school. As usual, the meal was served to the students around 1pm. About half-an-hour after eating the meal, some students complained of vomiting and stomach ache, a police officer quoted Meena as saying.

She said majority of the students had left for their houses after having the meal. Within half-an-hour, there was chaos both at the school and in the houses of the students, who had lunch at the school. “Panic prevailed at the village with people crying for help,” she told the interrogators.

Meena, appointed as a teacher on contract in 2007, claimed that she was at a loss at that point of time. She tried to contact some officials, but in vain.

“I am completely in the dark on how it happened and what happened thereafter,” she said, adding that she fled with her husband apprehending threat to her life.

She revealed that 55 students were present in the school on the fateful day. On an average, 40 students used to have the midday meal at the school. On that particular day, the attendance was a little more.

Saran superintendent of police Sujeet Kumar said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) would verify the statement of the principal given to the police. “The members of the SIT would visit the village and record the statement of the residents. We can’t draw any conclusion from her statement at this moment,” Kumar told The Telegraph.

The SP said the public prosecutor told him that the court had permitted the police to take the principal on remand for conducting the polygraph test. “We have not yet decided the date for conducting the test,” he said.

The criminal investigation department’s inspector-general Vinay Kumar, who is monitoring the investigation, said the information given by the principal to the police would be verified. “The SIT would visit the spot and talk to the residents, including the relatives of the victims, to ascertain the truth,” he added.