Four students of the Imperial Academy had a narrow escape on Tuesday morning when an army officer allegedly set fire to the school bus in the Mhow cantonment area near Indore.

The officer, identified as Major Mithilesh Chandra Jha, was reportedly angry with the management of Auckland Academy, a sister concern of the school, for non-payment of his wife's salary.

His wife, Ela, worked as a teacher at the Auckland Academy. She quit after working for nearly 28 days in April, school president Bhupinder Singh Luthra told reporters in Indore.

She had been demanding payment of her dues since then, he added.

Luthra alleged that the Major had called up the school on Monday and said an untoward incident may take place by Tuesday if his wife's dues were not cleared.

The school management had requested Jha to visit the school and go through the papers pertaining to his wife's appointment, which required her to give 30 days' notice before leaving the job.

On Tuesday morning, Jha reportedly stopped the bus, sprinkled petrol and set it on fire when it was on its daily routine of picking up students from the Mhow cantonment area, Indore Superintendent of Police Madhukumar Babu said.

While the students and bus conductor managed to escape unhurt, the driver received 35-40 per cent burns, he said adding the driver had been admitted to a private hospital.

Jha has not been arrested so far, Babu said.

More reports from Madhya Pradesh