A Class 12 student died on Saturday after allegedly pouring an inflammable substance on herself and setting herself on fire at Sarvodaya Bal/Balika Vidyalaya in East Delhi Krishna Nagar area, officials said on Saturday.

The incident triggered panic among teachers and students on the school premises, prompting the authorities to initiate an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the student’s death.

Officials said certain suspicious items were reportedly found in the student’s school bag. However, the nature of these items has not yet been officially confirmed, and the police are examining the circumstances that led to the incident.

According to officials, a Police Control Room (PCR) call reporting a fire incident was received from the school located in the Krishna Nagar area of Delhi’s Shahdara district.

“Upon receipt of the information, police staff from PS Krishna Nagar promptly reached the spot, where an approximately 18-year-old female student of Class 12th was found in a burnt condition behind the school guard room,” officials said.

They further stated that some materials were recovered during the initial proceedings at the scene and from the deceased student’s school bag. These items are being examined as part of the investigation.

“During preliminary proceedings, certain materials were recovered from the spot and the deceased girl’s school bag,” they added.

The police said a Crime Team of the Delhi Police was called to the school to inspect the scene, examine the circumstances and collect relevant evidence that could help establish the sequence of events leading to the incident.

“The circumstances leading to the incident are being examined, and further enquiry is in progress,” the police said.

A fire brigade team and police personnel were also present at the school as authorities began investigating the incident.

The police are examining the available evidence and the materials recovered from the spot to determine the circumstances surrounding the student’s death.

The investigation is ongoing, and officials have not yet confirmed the nature of the suspicious items reportedly recovered from the student’s bag.

Further details are expected to emerge as the police continue their enquiry into the incident.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a 33-year-old man suspected of having links with the banned terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) from Mumbai Mahim area, officials said.

The accused, identified as Mohammad Hasan Abu Sarmad Akhtar, was apprehended by the Kalachowki unit of the Maharashtra ATS near Mahim Metro station following a tip-off.

According to the investigating agency, the accused used his work as a Rapido rider and perfume seller as a cover while propagating radical ideology.

The ATS alleged that he was attempting to spread communal hatred and anti-national sentiments through various social media platforms. Investigators also recovered material allegedly linked to such activities from his mobile phone.

According to the agency, the accused operated a Telegram group where he allegedly uploaded inflammatory audio speeches by Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar on the Babri Masjid and other issues on June 1. The ATS also claimed that he was an active member of a Pakistan-backed extremist Telegram channel called ‘IBN-e-Qasim’.

The arrest comes months after the Gujarat ATS detained five people in July during an investigation into an alleged terror module linked to JeM.

The five accused were identified as Bilal Abidbhai Shera, Mohammad Ayub Kadiwala, Mohammad Palanpuri alias Khali Ayub Sunsara, Shafia Rais Mukhti and Mohammad Hasan Kardia. They were arrested from Khadiyal village in Siddhpur taluka of Gujarat’s Patan district.

Officials said the five suspects came under the scanner during the investigation into eight alleged JeM operatives arrested earlier that month.

The accused were produced before Judicial Magistrate R.M. Bhatia in Kadi town of Mehsana district, who remanded them to ATS custody until July 24.

Public Prosecutor P.R. Dantani told the court that custodial interrogation was necessary to investigate the alleged activities of the accused. He had claimed that one of them had attempted to make a time bomb and that investigators were yet to recover bomb-making materials and Urdu literature linked to the JeM.

Speaking to reporters, Dantani had said the names of the five accused had emerged during the investigation. He added that the ATS wanted to determine the source of the alleged bomb-making materials, where they had been concealed, and how the accused obtained jihadi literature associated with the banned outfit.

Investigators were also seeking information about where the literature had been stored.

An FIR has been registered against unidentified persons after two posters against the government were found pasted inside a train on the Delhi Metro’s Airport Express Line, police said on Saturday.

The FIR was registered under Sections of the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act, 2007, and the Metro Railway (Operations and Maintenance) Act, 2002.

“The black-and-white posters raised various issues and listed nine claims about changes in the country over recent years. They also carried a QR code inviting people to join an online group,” police said.

Officials said that police seized the posters, and the Special Cell is also involved in the investigation.

This comes amid the anti-Election Commission of India (ECI) protests in the National Capital over the alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Several Opposition parties, student activists, as well as the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) organised protests across the city demanding a rollback of the SIR protest and resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

Meanwhile, the INDIA Bloc has scheduled a mega rally against ‘vote chori’ on November 1 in New Delhi.

All India Congress Committee General Secretary, K.C. Venugopal on Friday said the party held high-level meetings with senior leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to intensify mobilisation for the rally.

In a post on X, Venugopal said that he, along with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, met AICC in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Rajendra Pal Gautam, UP PCC president Aradhana Misra Mona and other senior leaders from the state to discuss strategies for building large-scale participation in the rally.

The November 1 rally is being projected as one of the largest mobilisations by the Opposition alliance in recent times, with a special focus on drawing participation from northern states.

The Congress has appealed to supporters and citizens concerned about democratic processes to join the march and the Ramleela Maidan gathering in large numbers.