The Bengaluru Police have arrested a government school teacher on charges of having sexually assaulted at least 15 students for close to three months, the Hindustan Times reported on Friday.

The teacher, 54-year-old Anjanappa, used to teach physical education at a government school in the city’s Hebbal area.

A group of students accused him of inappropriately touching them and kissing some of them during classes as well as lunch breaks, an unidentified officer told the newspaper.

Police Inspector Dilip Kumar KH said that the matter came to light when students from Classes 8 and 9 told their parents about Anjanappa’s behaviour. The parents then took up the matter with the headmaster of the school, who launched an investigation into the allegations.

The headmaster reportedly filed a police complaint after the internal inquiry concluded that the allegations were prima facie true.

“The physical education teacher sexually assaulted the students over a period of two to three months,” the inspector said, according to the Hindustan Times. “Amid several complaints from students, the headmaster held a probe and then finally approached the police on Tuesday night.”

The teacher was arrested on Wednesday. The police have booked him under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act pertaining to sexual assault and sexual harassment, as well as Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with molestation.