Monday, July 4 2005 11:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Rourkela: Two persons, including an 11-year-old boy, were arrested in connection with the death of two students at the Catholic Mission school at Singaramunda in Orissa's Sundargarh district on June 30, police said.

Two school children had died and 34 others taken ill after consuming the food cooked at the school.

The 11-year old, a student of the same school, had ''confessed'' before the police after his arrest last night that he had ''mixed pesticide'' with the 'dal' cooked as he wanted to ''settle scores with a few boys who had insulted'' him, police claimed after interrogating the arrested boy.

The boy had confessed he had ''purchased'' the pesticide from the shop of one Rabinarayan Nayak in the neighbouring Sahajbahal village, police claimed. Nayak was also arrested today in this connection.

The suspicion of the sleuths, probing the tragic incident, fell on the arrested boy after the shop-keeper reportedly disclosed that he (boy) had purchased the pesticide from the shopkeeper before the incident.

The boy was arrested under Sections 302 and 284 of IPC from the nearby Manoharpur village and was produced before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Sundargarh instead of the juvenile court.

Nayak, arrested under Sections 284 and 304(A) of IPC, was produced before the Judicial Magistrate (first class) at Rajgangpur.

Five of the ailing children were still undergoing treatment at the district headquarters hospital at Sundargarh while the rest had been discharged from the Community Health Centre at Badagaon yesterday.