Suspended Deoria BSA Shalini Srivastava Arrested in Delhi in Assistant Teacher Suicide Abetment Case

More than three months after an assistant teacher was found dead by suicide at his residence in Gorakhpur, the police have arrested the suspended Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA), who is accused of abetting the suicide. Shalini Srivastava, who had been evading arrest since the incident, was apprehended in Delhi.

Srivastava had remained absconding since the death of assistant teacher Krishna Mohan Singh and carried a reward of Rs 25,000 on her arrest.

“We have arrested Shalini Srivastava in Delhi and are bringing her back to Gorakhpur,” said Ravi Singh, a Circle Officer in Gorakhpur.

For more than three months, police teams conducted extensive searches and carried out raids across multiple districts in an effort to locate the suspended education officer.

According to investigators, Krishna Mohan Singh and two other teachers lost their jobs in 2021 after their appointments were declared invalid over alleged irregularities by the then Basic Shiksha Adhikari of Deoria.

Singh had been serving at Krishak Laghu Madhyamik Vidyalaya in Deoria since 2016. Challenging his dismissal, he approached the Allahabad High Court, which in February 2025 directed the BSA to reconsider the matter and issue a fresh decision strictly in accordance with the law.

Singh’s family has alleged that Shalini Srivastava, who was posted as the BSA in Deoria at the time, and a clerk, Sanjeev Singh, demanded Rs 20 lakh through an intermediary in return for a favourable order.

According to the family, he was allegedly told that if the money was not paid, the earlier adverse decision would be repeated despite the High Court’s directions.

The family further claimed that a retired principal later intervened and negotiated a settlement under which Rs 16 lakh was to be paid.

Under increasing pressure and hoping to secure his reinstatement, Krishna Mohan Singh allegedly paid the amount in two instalments.

However, his family alleges that demands for more money continued and no appointment or joining order was issued.

According to the family, Singh met the BSA on February 20 and sought the return of the money he had allegedly paid.

They claim that he was humiliated and subjected to harassment during the meeting.

Unable to bear the emotional trauma and mounting pressure, the assistant teacher was later found hanging from a ceiling fan at his residence on the same day.

The allegations have triggered widespread outrage and raised serious questions about accountability within the education administration, with the police continuing their investigation into the circumstances that allegedly drove the teacher to take the extreme step.