Lucknow, Feb. 19: A gun-toting 27-year-old youth, said to be mentally disturbed, held the Lucknow police to ransom for over 40 hours before he was finally rendered unconscious and evacuated from the room he had locked himself in.
The drama, which began late on Wednesday night, ended on Friday evening when the police injected some gases under medical supervision into the boy’s room after which he fell unconscious. A four-inch hole had to be drilled into the roof of the room for access. The door of the room was later broken open and the boy was taken to the civil hospital for treatment.
Raju, also known as Mohammed Shamim, a B.Ed. student in Ghaziabad and a M.Sc. maths topper from Lucknow University, had locked himself in his house at Indaura village in Bakshi Ka Talab, on the outskirts of Lucknow, on Wednesday night. The boy, said to be suffering from acute depression, refused to open the door for his family members. The police was finally called in late on Wednesday night.
The arrival of the police seemed to further anger the boy, who began firing intermittently from his father’s licensed double-barrel gun.
Station officer Arun Kumar Dwiwedi of Bakshi Ka Talab police station was hit by a bullet when he tried to lob a teargas shell into the room to force the boy to open the door. Two other policemen were also injured as the boy continued with his indiscriminate firing.
The drama continued all through Thursday, and the boy warded off all attempts to pass food and water to him through a window. A heavy police contingent, accompanied by large numbers of paramedics and mediapersons, waited helplessly for the boy to tire out and open the door, but he did not relent.
On Friday morning, smoke was seen coming out of the room in which the
boy had locked himself in. Firefighters were called in and water thrown into the room to douse the fire, but Raju still refused to open the door.
Raju’s father, Dr Shabbir Ahmad, told reporters that he was sleeping close to his son on Wednesday night when he suddenly heard Raju screaming. "I ran to the adjacent room to get medication for him, but by then he had locked the room from inside. We tried to get one of his friends to persuade him to open the door, but he started firing instead. Finally, we had to call the police," he recalled.
Dr Ahmad said that the boy had a history of slipping into severe depression, losing control over his mind. "He has been under treatment for almost two years now, but it has never been so scary," he said.
His father explained that there were around 30 cartridges kept in the room, and Raju had fired 20 shots.
Additional DGP Brijlal told reporters that the biggest challenge for the police was to ensure the boy’s safety since he was not a criminal. "We wanted to tire him out and ensure he does not harm himself," he said.
Amita Verma