Former student sparks panic at school in Kerala brandshing air pistol; arrested
Thrissur (Ker), Nov 21: A former student of a private school in Thrissur sent students and staff into a panic on Tuesday, when he arrived there brandishing a "gun" -- but with the police responding to emergency calls promptly, he was apprehended before he could injure anyone with the air pistol.
The student, identified as Jagan, entered the Vivekodayam school in Thrissur in the morning and proceeded to the staff room, where he took out the weapon from his bag.
The tresspasser then moved through various classrooms, terrorising both students and staff members -- in an episode that brings to mind the hundreds of horrific school shootings in the United States of America in which many children have died.
Jagan fired a few rounds inside the school, according to the school staff, but the police -- who rushed there after receiving calls for help and subdued the 'shooter' -- said nobody was injured.
Acting swiftly, police caught hold of the gun-wielding man when he tried to escape, and arrested him on the school premises.
The charges filed against him include sections 448 (trespass) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
Police said Jagan, who is from Thrissur himself, has some mental issues, and the magistrate has issued relevant orders for his medical examination, based on his parents' request.
A police officer told PTI that Jagan had recently purchased the "baby toy air pistol" from a local shop, which he used to terrorise the students and teachers at his alma mater.
District Collector V R Krishna Teja, upon being informed, immediately arrived at the school to assess the situation, and assured parents that it was an isolated incident.
"A young person has come to the school. He was a bit unsteady and used his pistol and fired two or three rounds. That's what the school authorities have told us. He was taken into custody.
"It's an isolated incident, and an investigation is on. There is no need to worry. We are all here. He will be produced before a doctor," Teja told the media.
Television channels telecast visuals of the accused sitting inside the staff room waving about the air pistol he had taken out of his bag.
A teacher said that Jagan was a former student who had previously caused disturbances and had left the school.
"Earlier, he had used abusive language towards his teachers. Today, he came and asked for a hat that was confiscated when he was a student here," a teacher told the media.
Jagan's confrontational behaviour extended to the police station as well, where he was seen shouting at officials.
Police said that he has a track record of being kept under preventive detention by the Mannuthy police for creating public nuisances in the past.
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Duleep Trophy: Pacers shine as India B beat India A by 76 runs
Bengaluru, Sep 8: KL Rahul's gumption, which helped him pile a patient fifty, found no resonance among his colleagues as India B pacers led by Yash Dayal pushed India A to a 76-run defeat on the fourth and final day of their Duleep Trophy match here on Sunday.
Chasing 275, India A were bundled out for 198 in their second innings as left-arm seamer Dayal (3/50), with able support from his colleagues Mukesh Kumar (2/50) and Navdeep Saini (2/41), led the India B attack.
Rahul top-scored for 'A' with a 51.
In the first session of the day, India B made 184 all out in their second essay to muster a handy overall lead of 274.
The India A chase began on a shaky note as Mayank Agarwal departed in the second over itself, wafting Dayal away from his body to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a wonderful diving catch at second slip.
That brought Riyan Parag to the middle and the right-hander followed the path set on Saturday by Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan.
Parag took on the bowlers and pacer Mukesh bore the brunt of his aggression, getting smoked for two sixes and the second maximum touched the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium over the mid-wicket region.
Parag added 48 runs for the second with a rather subdued Shubman Gill, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at slips off Mukesh on 16, and 31 came off the former's bat in just 18 balls.
But the approach was tough to sustain considering the kind of assistance the bowlers were getting here, and soon his massive hoick off Dayal took an edge off Parag's bat en route to stumper Rishabh Pant.
Gill (21) departed soon, falling to Saini for the second time in the match and on this occasion, he edged the pacer to Pant.
Dhruv Jurel poked Dayal well outside off-stump to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, as India batters perished to a combination of bowlers' persistence on that channel and their own carelessness.
They took the lunch at a queasy 76 for four that soon transpired into 99 for six after the dismissal of Shivam Dube and Tanush Kotian, an hour into the lunch.
However, Rahul batted out 180 minutes 121 balls and milked 42 runs for the seventh wicket with Kuldeep Yadav to delay the inevitable.
The standout shot in an otherwise dour innings was a whistling on drive off Mukesh that fetched him a boundary.
But Mukesh had his revenge soon when Rahul feathered a cut off him to Pant, who completed five catches in this innings, soon after reaching his fifty with a single off Saini.
It effectively signalled the end of the road of for India A, though Akash Deep (43, 42b, 3x4, 4x6) gave a few moments of fun with a cavalier innings.
But beyond the entertainment value, it always was a case of when more than if.
Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 150 for six India B could only 34 runs more to the total before getting bundled out.
Pacer Akash, whom Sarfaraz Khan carted around for five fours in a row the previous day, found his mojo to add the scalps of Washington Sundar and Saini to complete a five-wicket haul (5/56).
The spell will keep his name floating among the contenders when the selectors sit together soon to pick up squad for two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
