After a 40-hour operation, the police on Friday rescued a mentally unsound youth who locked himself in a room of his house near here, opened fire indiscriminately, and set a quilt afire.
In a last-ditch effort, the police dug a hole on the roof and dropped chloroform, rendering him unconscious. He was then taken to hospital.
Two policemen suffered pellet injuries on Thursday.
Shamim Ahmed of Bakshi Ka Talab, said to be suffering from acute depression and a persecution complex, had been armed with his father's double-barrel gun and had fired 14 rounds at people and police personnel.
The drama began early on Thursday when Shamim, who was sleeping with his father, Shabbir Ahmed, a medical practitioner, reportedly started shouting that his father would kill him. He then locked himself in the room and threatened to shoot anyone who tried to open the door.
ADG (Law and Order) Brij Lal told journalists here that Shamim had set afire a quilt in the room but the flames were doused by fire tenders kept in readiness. On Friday, the police dug a hole on the roof and inserted a bulb and a camera for tracing Shamim's movements in the room. After dropping chloroform into the room, the police broke open the door and brought him out.
Reports quoting family members said the unemployed youth had been undergoing treatment for schizophrenia for the past two years.
Shamim did a postgraduate course in science in Lucknow University and completed B.Ed in Ghaziabad.
