West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee alleges 'Delhi Conspiracy' behind school hostage situation

A gun-wielding man barged into a packed classroom at a high school in West Bengal's Malda district Wednesday afternoon, but was overpowered by police and arrested, officials said.

Mamata alleges conspiracy

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was holding an administrative meeting in Kolkata at the time, came out to compliment the police for averting what is being seen as a potential school hostage crisis which could have turned ugly, akin to incidents of hostage shoot-outs in US educational campuses.

Lauding the police for disarming and arresting a man who barged into a school in Old Malda brandishing a gun, thereby averting a school hostage crisis, Banerjee alleged that the entire matter may have been a plot.

Banerjee alleged that there is a conspiracy around Bengal, and believes Delhi is involved in it.

She claimed the centre was trying to "disturb all states where the opposition was in power."

Man brandishes gun in packed classroom, arrested

Panic gripped the students of Muchia Anchal Chandra Mohan High School at Old Malda in the district, as the unidentified man brandished the gun and started yelling, a senior police officer said. "The man managed to enter the school and barge into the room where Class-8 students were seated. He was holding a gun and shouting at the students, threatening to kill them and the class teacher," the officer told PTI.

He was quickly overpowered by police personnel and arrested, he said. Classes were immediately suspended following the incident, police said