Bhubaneswar, Sep 8 (IANS): At least five teachers from a state-run tribal residential school in Odisha's Malkangiri district have been suspended after students complained that the teachers denied them good food and misbehaved with them, an official said Monday.

The students, belonging to the primitive Bonda tribe, left the Sevasram residential school at Mudulipada, over 700 km from Bhubaneswar, last week. They accused the teachers of not coming to school regularly, depriving them of decent food and misbehaving with them.

The school is home to about 180 students. At least 80 students have returned to the school after persuasion by officials. The administration is making efforts to bring back all the students, District Collector D. Prasanth Kumar Reddy told IANS.

Reddy said the teachers who were suspended are headmaster Bholanath Majhi and four teachers - S.K. Mahanta, N.K. Jena, H.K. Sahu and N. Muduli.

The Bondas are considered an endangered tribe. They live in Maoist-affected Malkangiri district and their population is around 2,000.