BERHAMPUR: Orissa- Police on Wednesday rescued 41 students, who had fled from the Government Girls' High School in Kandhamal district's Jalespeta area.The Class IX girls had left the hostel on Monday night after the authorities did not allow them to attend the Mahashivratri festival at a village. The hostel is run by the state government's SC and ST development department.

Police rescued them from the jungle near village Sillingi, about 8 km from the school, Police were on the lookout for them after getting an FIR from the headmaster of the school, he said.

"When police could not find them for the whole day, and inquired with their families, that many students went to the festival with a guide from the hostel, but these girls were not willing to go with her. students reportedly spent the entire day in the jungle, and returned to Sillingi in the evening, the headmaster said after questioning the girls. The students bought dry foods like biscuits from the village, .

There are 255 students in the hostel, including 51 from Class IX. District Welfare Officer (DWO) P N Prusty said the district administration would not tolerate such indiscipline from the hostel inmates. "We will hand over the students to their parents, and would not allow them to stay in the hostel," he said.
He said the students of Class X, who had deserted their hostel at Lingagada on Tuesday morning, returned later in the same day. Around 27 students had fled the residential school after an altercation with Class IX students over their eating place,