Brandishing a gun, a man barged into a classroom of a government school in West Bengal’s Malda threatening to kill students and teacher if his demands were not met. However, his plans were foiled when an unarmed policeman risked his life and lunged at him (video above) to take his weapon away. The man with the gun was subsequently arrested and the students escaped the worrisome situation unharmed.

Panic set in when Deb Kumar Ballav, 44, entered Muchia Anchal Chandra Mohan High School and took students of class 8 hostage with a 9mm pistol, a knife and two bottles of acid, according to a report by Times of India. The man held the class at gunpoint, telling journalists to record his message message asking for his estranged wife and son to be brought to him.

“My wife and my son were kidnapped,” The Telegraph quoted Ballav as saying (video below). “I lodged several complaints with the police and administration. But no action was taken. Even the media neglected my pleas to bring the issue to the public.”

Azharuddin Khan, the deputy superintendent of police (discipline & training), entered the school in plain clothes and posed as a journalist. Khan started communicating with Ballav, urging him to calm down, and then jumped on him and tackled him to the ground to take his gun away.

Khan told the newspaper he made his move when he noticed Ballav was about to “use his pistol”. Other police personnel present at the site joined Khan and to catch the man and safely escort the students out of the classroom.