Lucknow:
In the end, it took two cameras to end a standoff that had lasted 40 hours.
Shamim, 27, had locked himself into a room in his parents' home near Lucknow early on Thursday morning. With him were his father's gun and 30 bullets.
Each time the police or his family tried to approach his room, Shamim would open fire.
So on Friday afternoon, the police installed two cameras on a part of the terrace that overlooked Shamim's room. One was a webcam, the other was a camera phone on a mobile. The police monitored these, and when they saw Shamim had left his gun in a corner of the room, they grabbed the opportunity. Policemen broke into the room and overpowered Shamim, who was too far from his gun to retaliate.
Shamim is reportedly mentally disturbed. There are conflicting reports about the nature of his disorder. Once a Maths topper at his university, he was allegedly being treated for depression. Six months ago, some policemen say, his father stopped Shamim's medication.
The police first arrived at Shamim's house on Thursday morning in his village near Lucknow. By this time, Shamim had begun firing randomly through his door into his own house, as well as outside his window. The police asked a friend of Shamim's to take him a cup of tea, laced with tranquilizers. When the friend neared Shamim's door, bullets rang out. A police officer who got too close for Shamim's comfort was shot in the hand through a small hole in Shamim's wall.
By 10 pm on Thursday night, Shamim had fired 11 bullets.
On Friday morning, the silence was broken by sobs - Shamim's mother weeping for her son and the condition he was in. Inside his room, Shamim was shouting that he would kill the many policemen now guarding his house. Five more bullets were fired. Senior officers were worried that in panic, Shamim may shoot himself. So they decided to wait till Shamim surrendered.
By Friday afternoon, there was smoke inside the room. The police worried that Shamim had started a fire inside. Fire engines were summoned. The police now installed the cameras to keep a watch on him.
When Shamim emerged, policemen and hundreds of cameras surrounded him. He looked startled, as he was bundled into an ambulance. The police say he has been anaesthetised and is in stable condition.