Kendrapara, Sept. 10: Police today registered a case following the complaint that a group of Dalit students were not allowed to offer prayer to a Ganesh idol at a government school in Mahakalpada.

The case was registered under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Atrocity Prevention) Act, 1973.

Around 50 Dalit children studying at Chakada-Gogua High School were allegedly not permitted to break coconut shells and offer prayers, while upper caste students were allowed to do the same during Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations yesterday. “We have registered a case. The incident is being investigated. Legal action will be initiated accordingly,” said inspector of Mahakalpada police station Abhinav Dalua.

“The administration has taken a serious view of the incident. Directives have been served on the schools and mass education department authorities to conduct an unbiased inquiry into the denial of puja rights to the Dalit children,” said Kendrapara collector Niranjan Nayak.

Rabindra Nath Sethi, a Dalit leader and president of the Ambedkar-Lohia Vichar Manch, today demanded immediate arrest of the perpetrators of the crime.