Armed man arrested from near school in Madhya Pradesh

A 30-year-old man armed with a gun and live cartridges, and loitering near a school was arrested Friday here in Madhya Pradesh, police said.

The man, Anil Burman, was apparently looking for a girl student studying in the school at village Boriya, around 17km from the district headquarters, they said.

As soon as the police got information about the armed man moving near the school, they swung into action and arrested Burman, a resident of Pondi-Patan village in Jabalpur district, Katangi police station Assistant Sub-Inspector Milan Singh Rajput said.

One country-made revolver, two live cartridges and three caps of used cartridges stuck in the firearm were seized from him, he said.

Five mobile phones were also seized from him, he said.

The incident occurred when students were leaving for home after school hours, the ASI added.

The man appeared to be "mentally sick", the police officer said, citing preliminary interrogation.

Rajput said they were grilling the accused to find out from where he obtained the firearm and also about the girl student he was searching for.

He said Burman had come to Boriya to meet his maternal uncle.