Dhoni crackers thrill a young reveller in Ranchi on Sunday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Oct. 31: Diwali round the corner, cracker chaos on campus has put city schools on their toes.

Delhi Public School (DPS), Ranchi, suspended 10 students from Classes VII to XII on October 28 and 29 for bursting banned crackers inside school premises. They have been asked to stay at home and only join school after Chhath.

Besides, the management has also stepped up vigil and is keeping a tab on activities of students in corridors, washrooms, playground and library during school hours.

Gurunanak Higher Secondary School has suspended one student and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on two. It has also issued a notice, promising a reward of Rs 1,000 to anyone who gives information on students bursting crackers on campus. The authorities have also alerted gatekeepers and other school employees.

An official of DPS, Ranchi, said: “Ten students were caught bursting Diwali bombs on campus. They have been suspended. Of them, three are suspected to be directly involved in the mischief. Their parents were summoned and the matter was discussed with class teachers.”

DPS principal J. Mohanty added that this was a serious breach of discipline and such mischief would never be tolerated. “We have become more alert now and have restricted movement of students on the campus. We have also taken up the matter with their parents. We have asked them to be careful while giving pocket money to their wards. Instead, they were told to donate money for poor children,” he added.

Refusing to divulge much on the action taken against students who had burst crackers, principal of Gurunanak Higher Secondary School B.N. Trivedi said: “A Class XI student was suspended for three days. He joined classes after subsequent inquiry.”

He added that they had also formed a group of 25 students to watch out for untoward incidents on campus. “In 2007, there were as many as 25-30 incidents of students bursting crackers at the school. Nine cases were registered in 2008. Although the figure is not as high this year, we are not taking chances,” he said.

Although sources said similar incidents were reported at DAV group of schools and Oxford Public School, the authorities refused to confirm the same. Nevertheless, they have taken necessary measures to warn students against flouting norms.

“We are counselling students during assembly every morning, making them aware of the ill-effects of bursting firecrackers,” said vice-principal of Oxford Public School A.K. Singh.

Jawahar Vidya Mandir principal D.R. Singh maintained there was no such incident on the school campus.