Unstable shooter anaesthesised, brought out of room (Second Lead)

LUCKNOW - After battling with the police for over 35 hours, a mentally unstable youth was finally brought out of the room where he had locked himself in Wednesday and resorted to firing. The suicidal 27-year-old was administered some anaesthetic in a gaseous form and then taken out in an unconscious state.

Shamim alias Raju, son of a doctor in Bakshi-ka-Talab area on the outskirts of Lucknow, was finally taken out of the room Friday evening in an unconscious state and was rushed to a hospital.

“When all our efforts aimed to tame Raju failed, we had no option other than to make him unconscious. Though Raju tried his best to prevent himself from the effect of anaesthetic and covered his face with a cloth, he fell unconscious in the evening and we finally managed to take him out,” Superintendent of Police Ashok Prasad told reporters.

He said the police placed a thick sheet of iron as a cover in front of the door that was locked from inside by Raju. They then broke open the door and found Raju lying in an unconscious state.

“The double barrel-gun from which Raju was firing was found lying near him. We took the gun in our possession and carried Raju to the ambulance,” Prasad said.

Police had also placed a CCTV camera inside Raju’s room.

“Placing the camera helped us a lot as we were able to monitor Raju’s activities. Just before he fell unconscious, he sat on an almirah. It appeared he was quite tired,” Prasad said.

Raju had locked himself up Wednesday night. His father Shabeer Ahmad called the police Thursday morning after his son refused to open the door. A few constables headed by an inspector were sent to get him out.

But Raju began firing at everyone, including security personnel, friends and relatives, who tried to approach him. He fired 20 rounds from his father’s double-barrel licensed gun, injuring two policemen, including an inspector, an official said.

He also set some of his clothes on fire and fired four rounds Friday morning at fire-fighters and security personnel who tried to douse the blaze.

Police tried to administer sedatives to him by mixing these in his food and drink, but he refused to accept them.

When asked about Raju’s condition, Prasad said: “We would be able to comment on this only after consulting the doctors. However, according to us, he was perfectly alright when taken out of the room.”

Earlier, police said that Raju has a phobia that people, including his relatives, will harm him.

According to Deputy Inspector General of Police Rajiv Krishna, Raju had neither fixed any condition nor made any demand for coming out of the room.

“He did not speak to anyone while he kept himself locked up in the room. He only said one thing repeatedly that he is going to kill himself and others,” Krishna told reporters.

Raju’s relatives agree that he is “mentally unstable”, but haven’t given any specific reason for it. However, his neighbours and friends say that he went into depression a few years ago after he was apparently not allowed to pursue the career of his choice.

“Raju, who did brilliantly in his M.Sc (Maths), wanted to join civil services. However, his family made him take up teaching,” his friend Pawan Singh told reporters.

“Recently, he appeared in the NET (National Entrance Test) exams, but could not qualify. At present, he is pursuing B.Ed from an institute in Ghaziabad,” Singh added.