Students of a gurukul school in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur district have expressed disappointment after comedian-actor Rajpal Yadav did not meet them despite their earlier gesture of sending him money collected from their pocket savings while he was in jail.

Yadav, however, said he had not yet had the opportunity to spend time with his family members properly and added that he would definitely meet them, hug them and take photographs with them.

According to school authorities, around 40 students of Gurukul Seva Trust filled a piggy bank with money saved from their pocket expenses and sent it to Yadav’s ancestral village address in Kundra by post on February 21 as a token of support when he was lodged in jail. The children also enclosed an emotional letter expressing their desire to meet him after his release.

In a 29-second video that has gone viral, the students are heard saying, “Namaste Rajpal bhaiya, we have learnt that you have returned home after being released from jail. Congratulations to you.

“We all want to meet you and know whether you received the help we sent. If you did, why did you not respond to our letter? We are upset with you.”

The children further said in the video that even if he could not meet them, he could at least have spoken to them to reassure them.

Yadav said he had only recently returned home and had not yet had the opportunity to properly sit with his family members. He said he was gathering details about those who had extended help to him.

“As far as meeting the children is concerned, I was told they were from an orphanage. In my view, if children have an ashram, they are not orphans,” he said.

When informed that the children were from a gurukul school, Yadav said, “I am a person who believes in the guru tradition, and all those children are my own. I will definitely meet them, hug them and take photographs with them Kumar Sagar, chairman of the Gurukul Seva Trust school, told PTI on Wednesday that the piggy bank was filled collectively by the students, and some additional amount was also added before it was sent.

Yadav had taken a loan of Rs 5 crore in 2010 from Murli Projects Private Limited for his film “Ata Pata Lapata”. He was later sent to jail after failing to repay the loan. It was during that period that the children sent their savings to him as a small gesture of support, the school authorities said.

Yadav, famous for his popular comedy roles in Hindi films, hails from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.