Boys held for circulating fake school closure order released

Two Class 12 students, who were taken into police custody for allegedly circulating a fake official order stating that schools would remain closed for two days, have been granted bail, officials said on Thursday.

The students, aged 16 years, of the government inter-college were apprehended on Monday and released on Wednesday, the officials said.

"They were produced before the juvenile justice board which granted them bail considering the case was not criminal and would impact their future," a district official said.

Meanwhile, District Magistrate B N Singh, whose signature was forged by the students in the fake order, stressed on the need for a discussion within the society over the misuse of Information Technology by students.

"Information Technology has done us a lot of help but also created some problems. It is pertinent that the society now discusses whether such acts are ethically and legally right," Singh said, a day after scores of school children staged a sit-in outside his office demanding "forgiveness" for the actions of their classmates.

Schools in Gautam Buddh Nagar were ordered to remain shut last week due to intense cold weather and anti-citizenship law protests unfolding in parts of Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere in the country.

On Sunday evening, the forged letter surfaced online and got circulated via WhatsApp which stated that schools will remain closed on December 23 and 24 as well. The letter had caused major confusion, prompting officials to file a police complaint.