Thiruvananthapuram: General Education Minister V Sivankutty has ordered a comprehensive probe into the death of  Mihir Ahammed, who died by suicide in January.

It is alleged that the Class 9 student of the Global Public School in Thiruvaniyoor in Ernakulam district was subjected to severe bullying in school, which resulted in him taking extreme steps.

The minister ordered a detailed probe after the General Education Director's (GED) investigation into the incident found lapses on the part of the school. As per norms, the school should have initiated an inquiry into the mother's complaint that Mihir was subjected to bullying. GED's report noted that the school neither started any checks nor took any action regarding the complaint.

The minister said another student had to be shifted to another school after the school refused to intervene despite complaining about bullying.

Addressing the media here on Monday, Sivankutty said all schools must obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the government. But the said school has not produced one.

However, Global Public School officials maintained that they had not received any evidence to suggest that Mihir's death was related to bullying in school.

The school principal told Malayala Manorama that the institution is cooperating with the police investigation and has submitted all requested information. The principal said he does not know about the student who had to shift school due to ragging.

However, he refuted the minister's claim that the school had not produced the NOC, claiming that the school had produced the documents on February 4. The school provided additional documents sought by the education department on February 7.

The principal claimed that though the school applied for an NOC for the Cambridge International Curriculum, officials said the government could only give NOC for state or central syllabi.