Cuttack, July 2: Most of the students who were injured in a crude bomb explosion at Ayatpur High School here yesterday have been diagnosed with hearing ailments.

The state government has ordered an inquiry into the incident. The blast left 22 Class IX students of the school injured.

Two separate teams of doctors today conducted a medical exam of the injured students, who were earlier discharged from SCB Medical College and Hospital. “Apart from minor injuries on the legs, many students have complained of loss of hearing following the loud noise,” said a doctor.

Now fear persists among students, who narrowly escaped the explosion. The school witnessed thin attendance today with only 49 of its 215 students turning up. “My parents were reluctant to send me to school today after yesterday’s incident,” said Sudhanshu Sahu, a student.

The classroom where the blast took place at 10.20am yesterday has been cordoned off for investigation.

Police said initial evidence suggests Rajkumar Das, a Class IX student of the school who allegedly had the bomb in his school bag, did not have any malicious intention. The bomb reportedly exploded when Rajkumar was trying to take his notebook out of the bag and it fell.

A senior police official said efforts were on to establish how Rajkumar had acquired the crude bomb. His relative Prashant Das was a known goon. “It is too premature to say from where the boy procured the bomb. We are taking into account all possible angles,” said deputy commissioner of police S. Praveen Kumar.

Rajkumar earlier told the police that he had found the explosive wrapped in a polythene and put it in his bag. His father, Ajay Das, who works as a line-man at the Kandarpur electricity department, refused to comment.

School and mass education minister Rabi Narayan Nanda visited the school near Kandarpur and also met the injured children. “The chief minister has taken a serious view of the incident and I have asked the director of secondary education to conduct a probe. The police are also investigating the matter,” said the minister.

District education officer Bhagwan Sahoo has suspended Panchanan Behera, a Hindi teacher who was present in the classroom when the explosion took place, for alleged negligence. Sahoo said Behera was suspended because he “failed to identify” the student who was carrying the bomb to class.

Sources said Behera’s report on the incident yesterday did not match with his version today.