Bengal: Gunman Storms Malda School, Police Avert Hostage Crisis

As the unidentified man brandished a gun and began yelling, panic gripped the students of Muchia Anchal Chandra Mohan High School in Malda. CM praised the police for preventing a hostage situation.

A gunman storms into Malda School, but police prevent a hostage situation. (Representational Image)

Source : Getty

A gunman stormed into a packed classroom at a high school in the Malda district of West Bengal on Wednesday (April 26) but was quickly apprehended by police. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee praised the police for preventing a school hostage crisis. Panic gripped the students of Muchia Anchal Chandra Mohan High School in the district's Old Malda as the unidentified man brandished a gun and began yelling, news agency PTI reported citing a police officer.

"The man broke into the school and barged into the classroom where Class 8 students were seated." "He was holding a gun and yelling at the students, allegedly threatening to kill them and the teacher," the officer said, according to PTI.

The individual was immediately overpowered by police officers and arrested, according to the officer, who also stated that the pistol, two bottles containing some liquid, and a knife were seized from his possession.

The man claimed he was acting in this manner because his son and wife had been missing for a year and he wanted to put pressure on the administration to take notice.

Anxious parents rushed to the school and made a beeline outside, even though classes had been suspended following the incident, according to police.

Banerjee praised the police for disarming and arresting a man but claimed the entire incident was a plot.

"The case of the man brandishing a gun at Malda school may not be an act of lunacy," the chief minister said at a press conference at the state secretariat. 

Earlier in the day, the Bengal chief minister condemned those responsible for torching a police station in the state's Uttar Dinajpur district in protest of a teenage girl's death last week. Mamata claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sent people to burn down the police station and public property, as well as to brutally beat up women police officers.