A large number of parents and students today picketed in front of Stanes Higher Secondary School following allegations that the water purifiers in the school contained rats – both dead and live.

Based on the complaints from a section of the students, their parents, numbering some 500, gathered in front of Stanes School, and laid siege, protesting against the unhygienic drinking water reportedly being supplied to their children, police said.

They also claimed that one of the two purifiers has live rats, due to which the students were hesitating to consume water.

Even as the school management was not available for their version, police said that the parents dispersed after assurance from the authorities that they would look into the issue.