The seizure was made yesterday on a complaint by the house owner, police said, adding one of the students who had kept the firearm managed to flee while the other two had been taken into custody for questioning.
The landlord reportedly saw the students, studying in different colleges in the district, possessing the revolver when he had gone to collect rent and lodged a complaint with police.
According to police, Mayuresh Kumar from Bihar, a guest of the other two students, fled leaving behind the pistol on seeing the police while his friends Deepak Nayak from Ranchi and Abhishek, also from Bihar, were taken to the local police station for questioning.
DIG Thirugnanam told reporters that police were trying to find out from where the revolver was obtained and whether such groups of students from other states staying in rented houses also possessed such arms and their possible network and links with Naxalites.
He said all houseowners should obtain full details of their tenant and inform the police if they happen to be from outside Tamil Nadu.
