Teachers from a few prominent schools in the city have expressed serious concerns over the alleged attempt of some of their former students to misuse old school uniforms for suspicious activities.
The former students, who recently completed their high school and higher secondary courses, are reportedly using their old uniforms as a cover for roaming around the city.
“We came across the incident as some of the teachers approached us for a solution. Surveillance has been strengthened in the wake of the confidential complaint,” said a police officer who visited the suspected spots for verification. The officer also revealed that students who allegedly used old uniforms were mostly involved in incidents of eve teasing near school premises in the evening.
It was the first time that teachers, including the headmistress of an aided high school, came across such illegal attempts and sought the intervention of the police to end the practice. They were also apprehensive as any unlawful activity by such students in fake uniform was likely to affect the schools’ reputation.
Police sources said the suspicious misuse of old uniforms was making it difficult for even teachers to identify their students and strangers on crowded school premises. They said they were yet to be clear about similar incidents near any other institutions in the district.
In the wake of increasing incidents of drug seizures and thefts involving teenage boys, school-level vigilance committees would be initially asked to keep an eye on the possible misuse of school uniforms for the purpose. Police sources said they were yet to come across any incident in which the young suspects in various crimes used their old school uniforms to hoodwink the public.
A few years ago, there were complaints on the part of bus operators over the attempts of a few students to enjoy concession tickets wearing old school uniforms. Subsequently, the bus operators had started stringent verification of student passes on various routes.
