A 50-year-old headmaster of a government middle school in Pakur district was charred to death on Wednesday when a sudden blaze erupted in the building.

The deceased, identified as Nakul Pandey, was in his room inside the Pochobeda village school when the mishap occurred.

The cause of the fire has not yet been identified, police said.

Pandey was a resident of Kalitalka area in Pakur, over 400 km from state capital Ranchi.

“The incident occurred between 1 and 2pm. Locals spotted smoke emanating out of the school building after which they rushed to find the school principal completely charred. Soon after we got the information, a fire tender was rushed to douse the fire. The body has been sent for autopsy and probe is on to find reasons which led to the singe,” Manoj Kumar, officer-in-charge of the Amrapara Police Station, said on Wednesday.

Francis Marandi, an assistant teacher posted here said that the school is closed for students in the wake of continued lockdown. He added that during the time of the incident, the principal was alone in the school single storied building doing routine office work in his cabin.

“On directives of the principal, I had gone to the nearby village to call kids to come to school for collecting their midday ration as per the government scheme, when I learnt about the incident. I immediately rushed back to the school when I saw heavy commotion and that the principal was dead,” he said.