Standoff ends after youth locks himself up for 38 hours

A dramatic standoff in which an armed youth who was mentally ill locked himself in a room at his home for 38 hours and fired at police and family members ended this evening after he was tranquilised with chloroform.

The 27-year-old youth Shamim Ahmed, who also set one of the rooms on fire and refused to come out despite several appeals, was taken out without any harm in an unconscious condition ending the ordeal that began at around 4 a.m. on Thursday for his family at their Indaura village home.

Police tranquilised the youth by sprinkling some chloroform inside the room after installing a CCTV camera to keep a track on his activities inside. Shamim was reported to be a university topper.

After ensuring that Shamim became unconscious following the effect of chloroform, the police broke open the door, took him out and rushed him to hospital in an ambulance. His gun was also recovered by police.

Two policemen, including Arun Dwivedi, a Station House Officer were injured in the firing by the youth when they attempted to lob tear gas shells inside the room.

Asked about the delay in ending the stand-off, Ashok Singh, SP(Lucknow) said,” we had to adopt different tactics as the youth was not a criminal. Had he been a criminal the operation could have ended soon.”

“We had to be patient in bringing him out without any harm and had to take appropriate action only when the time was right,” Mr. Singh added.

After locking himself in the room, he started firing indiscriminately with his father’s licensed double—barrel gun.

Police said he fired at least 20 rounds.

Shamim’s doctor father Shabbir Ahmad said his son was suffering from a phobia because of which he remained apprehensive that people could cause harm to him.

Shamim, a post-graduate in Mathematics from Lucknow University, is presently pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in education from a college in Ghaziabad as a private candidate.