Officials of the North Dinajpur district administration on Saturday met the families of Rajesh Sarkar and Tapash Burman at Daribhit village and requested them to refrain from any agitation at the entrance of the local school where the duo were killed and cooperate in reopening the institution that is closed since September 20.

The district inspector of schools of South Dinajpur has been suspended for alleged anomalies in the requisitions sent to the education department for teachers of different schools in North Dinajpur district. He had been posted in the district about a year ago.

Early this week, state education minister Partha Chatterjee had said in Calcutta that the district administration had been asked to take initiatives so that the school reopened after the Durga Puja and Diwali holidays along with other schools in the state.

Accordingly, Manish Mishra, the SDO, and Satadal Dutta, the BDO of Islampur, went to Daribhit on Saturday. They met the victims’ families and held a closed-door meeting.

“At the meeting, they requested us to cooperate with them in reopening the school and also told us about the instructions of the state education minister. We have told them to come with a letter from the minister along with an assurance of a CBI investigation. Unless a CBI probe is ordered, we will not let them reopen the school,” said Subhash Sarkar, Rajesh’s uncle.

After the violence that claimed the lives of Rajesh and Tapash, both former students of Daribhit High School, their families have been demanding a CBI probe. The state has handed over the case to the CID.

Also, both the families are holding sit-in demonstrations at the school’s entrance on a regular basis and have not allowed the teachers and even officials of the administration to enter the school.

“We have been demanding a CBI probe since the day my son died. If the state does not accept our demand and instead tries to use force, they will have to walk over our bodies to enter the school,” said Manju, Tapash’s mother.

Both the officials left Daribhit after talking to the families for about an hour. Later, the SDO said they had sought the cooperation of the families. “But they have made some demands. We will send a report to our superiors on the issue,” said Mishra.

On Friday evening, the state education department suspended Narayan Chandra Sarkar, the DI of South Dinajpur.

“He had been posted in North Dinajpur about a year ago. After the Daribhit incident, it has been found that the requisitions that he had sent to the department for teachers did not match the requisitions sent by the schools to him. There are some other anomalies in the process and it is because of such differences that the Daribhit incident happened. That is why he has been suspended,” said a source.

Sarkar denied the allegations.

“I am not associated with the issue of recruitment of teachers at Daribhit High School and got transferred from North Dinajpur about a year back. I will retire next month and now I have been suspended. I will soon visit Calcutta and meet the principal secretary of the education department,” he said.