The police have arrested a man believed to be mentally unstable who ran amok while armed with a pair of scissors and two machetes on a bank of Sungai Pari near his home here last night.

Ipoh Police deputy chief Supt Abdul Rani Alias said the 36-year-old man was picked up at about 7 pm after the police took more than an hour to persuade him to surrender.

"An initial investigation revealed that a scuffle broke out between the man and his mother in their home but no one was hurt.

"An investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing and the police have seized a pair of scissors and two machetes from the man," he told reporters after attending the monthly assembly of the Ipoh Police chief at the Pasir Putih Police station here today.

Abdul Rani said the man had drug-related and criminal records.

-- BERNAMA