BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- A man who injured 20 pupils in a hammer attack in downtown Beijing earlier this month was formally arrested Monday for intentional homicide.

The arrest decision was made by the Xicheng District People's Procuratorate, said the People's Procuratorate of Beijing Municipality.

The city's people's procuratorate said it would handle the case in accordance with the law to strike hard at crimes that harm juveniles and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

The 49-year-old suspect, surnamed Jia, attacked a group of students with a hammer on a campus of the No. 1 Affiliated Elementary School of Xuanwu Normal School in Xicheng District on the morning of Jan. 8. Local police had put him under criminal detention for intentional homicide.

Police have said the attacker was a disgruntled former maintenance worker of the school.

Nineteen students had been discharged from hospital by Sunday, according to the Xicheng district government. The only victim still hospitalized was recovering.

The district government has organized health and educational agencies to offer rehabilitation nursing, psychological counseling and learning guidance for the discharged students.