A Class II student of a school in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras was killed as part of a “sacrificial ritual” for the institute’s “prosperity” and five persons, including the owner and the principal, have been arrested.

The incident took place on the premises of DL Public School in Rasgawan on September 23 but the matter came to light on Thursday when the family members of 11-year-old Kritarth Kumar received the post-mortem report that revealed that the boy was strangled.

The director and two teachers of the school have also been arrested, police said. An FIR against them has been lodged under Section 103 (1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and they have been sent to jail.

Ashok Kumar, additional superintendent of police (ASP) of Hathras, said: “Our initial inquiry has confirmed that the school owner and his father believed in tantric practices and sacrificed the child in the hope that their institute would prosper fast.”

The officer said Kritarth used to live in the hostel on the school’s second floor.

On the night of September 23, teacher Ram Prakash Solanki reached Kritarth’s room and picked him up. When the boy started crying, Solanki put his hand on Kritarth’s mouth and took him to Dinesh Baghel, the manager and owner of the school. Veer Pal, another teacher, and Jashodan Bhagat, Dinesh’s father, pinned the boy to the floor and strangled him. Principal Lakshman Singh kept watch during the incident.

“We have come to know that they had planned to sacrifice the child at a secluded place 15 metres from the school premises, but the child woke up and resisted, prompting them to quickly change the plan and kill him on the campus,” ASP Kumar said.

Kritarth’s father Krishna Kushwaha, a farmer, said: “I received a call from Dinesh that my son was unwell and he was taking him to hospital. I sat in his car in which he was carrying my son. We went to a hospital in Hathras where the doctors declared him dead. Dinesh took him to Agra on my request where the doctors confirmed that he was dead.”

Kumar said Jashodan had recently organised a programme on black magic in the school. “We have also come to know that they had planned to sacrifice another student on September 6 but the child somehow escaped from their clutch,” he added.